Reflections
by Jimmy 144
Summary: Beginning at the end and looking at a new beginning.  Starting with the end of Episode 3.12.  Decisions have been made.  Claudia is trying to find out more about her new job.  Next chapter posted.  Team gets ready for Alphas.  The end of Part I.
1. Chapter 1 Devastation

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

To the reader: This story begins at the end and looks at a beginning. The end in this case is the Episode 12, Stand, in Season 3 of Warehouse 13. The beginning is well a part of the story.

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 1—Devastation**

**Warehouse 13**

Pete was staring into the catastrophe, "That was his plan. To destroy the entire Warehouse. We lost Artie, we lost"

Artie heard Pete and was looking at the watch he had pulled out of his pocket. He replied with some confidence, "Not yet." He knew it would be possible but they had to do exactly as he said. It started with the Farnsworth. Leena's face appeared in the screen. "What's happened?"

Leena was taken back. She was about to ask that. She looked down at Mrs. Frederic, "She's dead Artie. Mrs. Frederic is dead. What happened?"

"The bomb went off. HG put part of the barrier over us while the bomb went off. The Warehouse was destroyed." Artie knew now that his plan would have to have a deviation. He had told Claudia before that her fate was her own, but now he needed to change that. "Listen carefully, if Mrs. Frederic is dead, we need Claudia to take her place." Artie should have known to expect questions and he got the first.

"Why? You said the Warehouse was destroyed," Leena asked.

"Because we are going to try and reverse things. I have MacPherson's pocket watch. Actually he thought it was the watch of Carroll's White Rabbit." Artie was starting one of his long explanations.

Pete was standing next to Artie listening to this, "What?"

Artie shook his head to concentrate, "It turns back time. But just a few minutes and as best we could tell it is localized. My problem is that I don't think it will cover the B&B. If we don't have a Caretaker when we go back…well, it will be worse than what just happened. We'll need you to get the ribbon from the front vestibule and drape it over Claudia and Mrs. Frederic's hands. Is Claudia listening?"

**The B&B**

Leena looked at her and Claudia nodded. "Yeah, Artie. She can hear you."

Claudia was locked in place and felt like she was really cornered. She had heard Artie's explanation to Leena. Claudia looked down and at the metronome. '_It's too hard. If Mrs. Frederic can't be restored, I'll have to accept the ribbon. Leena said she wasn't sure whether we could use the metronome to bring Mrs. Frederic back. Looking at Mrs. Frederic again, I am not sure whether that is even possible. The metronome is at least the lifeline to bring Steve back. Whether it would work on Mrs. Frederic, well, that is…'_

Leena was trying to get through to Claudia. Leena looked at the Farnsworth again and gave it to Claudia.

Artie's face was almost completely covering the screen. Artie started, "Claudia listen. We need you to take the ribbon. I don't know if the watch will cover you and the B&B, or whether it is localized to the Warehouse. If we do this and the Warehouse comes on-line without a Caretaker, well the effects will be catastrophic. Just drape the ribbon over your hands."

Claudia was stuck, just shaking her head.

Myka had been in a daze. Her mind was a whirl, _'First Steve for no good reason, now Helena, Artie must have a plan. If there was a way to fix this.'_ Myka took Artie's place, "Claudia, I'm sorry. I know the toll has been too high. Please." Myka took as much of her inner strength as she had to say it, "HG is gone. This might be the only way to get her back."

"What? HG?" Claudia got out.

Pete was next, "Yeah, she was great. She pulled one of those HG wizard things, like you, and made a protective dome over us. When the bomb exploded, the Warehouse and everything in it was consumed in the ball of fire. But HG was not in the protective dome." He let that sink in and used the Farnsworth to pan the remains of the Warehouse. He looked back into the Farnsworth camera, "Don't worry, when Mom gets back we'll figure something out."

Claudia looked down again at Mrs. Frederic and knew what she had to do. She just wished she would know what to do after she did it. Then it hit her; she knew how to fix it. Claudia got into the screen, "Artie, you're going to put the dome over the bomb, aren't you?"

Artie got the Farnsworth back, "Yes."

Claudia was shaking her head, "HG must have thought of that. The dome she made was strong enough to protect you but probably not enough to contain the blast. How did she make it?"

"She said there was an anomaly in the Remati Shackle dome and she used a couple electrical cables to make this smaller dome. What?" Artie asked.

"We need to step up the power." She knew where they had been and thought of something, "You are next to the old Tesla generator, just out the door and two aisles down on the right. When you go back, have HG use all the power she can get from that generator to power her dome. She'll need to keep it connected."

"So, are you getting the ribbon?" Artie asked.

Claudia looked over and saw Leena coming back with it, "Yeah, we got it." Claudia started to remember the last time, "So, what's going to happen with this?"

"You should be okay. If the watch covers the B&B, then Mrs. Frederic will be back. If not, well…"

"Got it," Claudia said rather glumly. She saw Artie starting to adjust the watch. Just then she thought of the worst case, "Wait Artie…" The screen on the Farnsworth went blank.

"Claudia, hurry. Artie is probably starting it on his end," Leena had the ribbon out.

Claudia went over beside Mrs. Frederic and put her hand next to hers. Leena loosely wrapped the ribbon around both of their hands.

**Warehouse 13**

Artie pushed the stem on the watch. In a blink they were standing in front of the bomb at the workbench. Artie turned to find Helena. He saw her going to the power panel, "Wait, Claudia had a better idea. She said with more power the dome you are about to make will hold in the blast of the bomb."

Helena cocked her head, "What?"

Myka started, "Claudia said that if you use Tesla's generator, it will provide enough power to use the anomaly and make a dome over the bomb. It will also be strong enough to hold the blast." She looked hard at Helena, "I can't…"

"Righty ho then. Where is that little generator?" She asked as she saw Artie wave his hand and followed him out into the main part of the Warehouse. Artie carried the bomb with him and sat it down in the middle of the aisle by the generator.

Helena read the sign by the generator, "Nikola Tesla Generator. Powered the 1893 World's Fair. Power potential not measurable." She looked at Artie, "Just what does that mean?"

"It's believed that it can produce enough power to handle the entire Eastern United States." Artie shrugged his shoulders in reply.

Helena went about her job and started the generator. She was about to use the cables to create the dome when Artie added, "Claudia said to leave it connected."

She looked over at him, "Well, how will it shut down?"

"When the danger is gone the Remati Shackle will shut down," he hoped that would shut down the smaller dome too.

Helena nodded, "Stand back." She began the dome and let the cables stay in contact with the edge of the dome it created. She looked at the display, "We got about a minute."

"We can make it. Come on back to the quarantine area. It will give us a little extra protection." Artie began to jog that way.

They made it and felt the bomb go off. There was a large rumbling and shaking that seemed to last over a minute. Some items in the quarantine area began to move to the edge of their shelves. Artie pointed, "Grab those. Don't let them fall!"

The quarantine tent was shaking. The boxes, crates and selves called out in creaks and splinters. Pete, Myka and Helena ran to different locations. They began pushing back the items as they rumbled to the edge. It finally stopped.

Pete looked around and stated the obvious, "It worked."

Myka went to Helena and gave her a hug. Tears came to her eyes.

Pete was next to them and added his, "Group hug. That was great."

Artie looked back at the little group. He shook his head, "Don't be so happy yet. Look at this." He held back the flap of the tent. There was a cloud of dust everywhere. Some selves of the Warehouse had fallen over.

"But it is all there, Artie. And we still have Helena," Myka replied wiping her eyes.

Helena was still a little confused, "Pardon me, but what just happened?"

Artie looked at her and held up the watch.

Helena smiled, "Oh, you have it. An interesting bobble, the White Rabbit's I would surmise."

Artie smiled back, "Correct."

Myka got her attention and explained, "You had created a dome around us, but you where outside of it. The bomb…" She could not continue.

Pete took Myka's hand, "It went off. Everything outside the dome we were in was destroyed." Pete saw Helena nod her head in understanding. "Artie used the watch to bring us back and give us a few minutes."

Helena thought about it for a second, "And Claudia? She knew…"

Myka almost screamed, "Claudia!" She ran to Artie. He already had his Farnsworth out.

_A/N Hope you enjoy this. There will be a few twists along the way. Please leave a review._

Also, got the Italics fixed.


	2. Chapter 2 Examinations

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13. 

**Chapter 2 Examinations**

**The Conference Room**

The conference room had dark wood panels all around it. There were large paned glass windows in the front of the conference room. The view to the outside was not clear. The windows were frosted and the outside was only a blur. One wall did have a fireplace with marble around it and a larger wood mantle. The fireplace looked like it could have burned wood in it long ago but now had a glassed-in gas heater. The conference table was a large wood oval table and had fifteen chairs around it. Five had people in them.

Claudia just had an examination by Dr. Calder. The doctor had been very thorough. She had taken a blood sample and within the time of the examination the results were available. Vanessa told Claudia she was in perfect health. Claudia had attempted several times to ask questions during the examination but each had been deflected or interrupted by another probe. After Vanessa finished she led Claudia to the conference room. She pointed to a chair and said before she turned to leave, "These are the Regents. They will likely have a few questions. Afterward, come see me."

Claudia was at the table in the chair three down from the head chair. That chair was empty.

Opposite Claudia were five people, the Regents. In the first chair off the head position was an older man with long brown hair about Artie's age. He had a drawn long face that seemed to match his hair. He was wearing a golf shirt and seemed to want to get done soon. She thought for sure he was going to say something about grasshoppers.

Next there was a younger, a lot younger woman who looked a little like a thin Leena. She had her black hair in tight braids that hung down passed her shoulders. She was wearing a dark business suit. She had a tablet in front of her and pen in her hand. She did not look too pleased.

Then there was a chubby man with black hair that look like he could use a tan. He wore glasses that were a bit out of date with a black sports coat and pin-stripped shirt.

Next to him was a lady that looked like she could be Pete's grandma. She had straight blond almost grey, white hair with a sweater blouse. She wore glasses that were likely reading glasses.

Finally, there was another younger girl, likely younger than Myka, with dark almost black hair and white blouse. She began, "Please recount the events from the time you put the ribbon on your hands."

Claudia was about to say something nasty. She thought about it for a second. Since Artie called and told her and Leena about the events at the Warehouse, she had done what she thought were the right things to do. If the Regents did not want her, that was fine with her. She did not ask for this. Trying to control herself, Claudia said in reply, "Leena placed the ribbon on my hand and Mrs. Frederic's per instructions from Artie. The Warehouse had been destroyed. Artie, Myka and Pete had survived the blast in an energy dome that Helena made from an anomaly in the energy dome covering the Warehouse. Artie had the artifact called the White Rabbit's watch. It allowed him to go back in time. He was going to use that to go back and have Helena put the smaller dome over the bomb. I suggested that he get her to hook up the smaller dome to the Tesla power generator, which was in a nearby aisle. It would give the smaller dome more power and allow it to hold the bomb blast. For the details on what happened at the Warehouse, you had better ask Artie or the others."

The man with the black hair asked, "Was that before or after you put on the ribbon?"

Claudia blinked. How many times was it going to take before they understood? She did not put the ribbon on. Leena did it. Claudia wondered, _'It wasn't like I was trying to take Mrs. Frederic away or make sure she stayed dead. Was that the one thing that really mattered to them?' _ Claudia looked at the man and stared him in the eye, "Before Leena put on the ribbon and while we were still talking with Artie, I suggested using another artifact, the Tesla generator, to increase the power to the smaller dome."

The young lady with the note pad followed-up and asked, "Please explain your actions after that."

"I waited. Nothing was happening with Mrs. Frederic. I wanted it to." She looked at the girl, "I mean I was praying for it to happen. But she did not come back." Claudia paused remembering what the onslaught was like. "Then it happened. I was connected to the Warehouse. It all seemed to come at once. Well, I guess it was a little longer than at once. Leena said I just stood there almost in a trance for a few minutes. I woke when Artie called. They had made it. He said they were okay, including Helena. I remember Pete interrupting saying I would be in the Warehouse for weeks cleaning up the mess. He said it was covered in dust and a lot of the artifacts had fallen off their shelves and some selves had fallen over."

Claudia paused, the next part still hurt. She thought, _'I liked Mrs. Frederic. Yeah, I did not think what she did to Steve was right, and to send him out without any backup was more than stupid.'_ She looked back at the girl, "Artie asked what happened to Mrs. Frederic. Leena was a mess by then, I answered that Mrs. Frederic did not come back. I also knew at that point that the metronome would not work on her."

The older lady asked, "You said you knew? How is that?"

Claudia shook her head, "It was like it was a part of the Warehouse information. I knew looking at her that it was too late." She paused, "I now know that had our little plan to boost the energy of the dome not worked, I'd be no better off than Mrs. Frederic." It made her shutter. "At that point I knew what I needed to do next."

The man next to the head seat spoke up, "You know we can't use artifacts."

Claudia looked right at him and then down the line, "You know, you all know that's not the fact. We all do what we think is right." She looked back at the guy, "I for one am tried of arbitrary rules." She knew this was right, _'Steve is in the hospital. He is going through dialysis to remove all of the poison Sykes used. I'll never have to use the metronome to keep him alive. He is going to get better. Artie was right too. He used an artifact to bring back HG and the Warehouse.'_ She smiled at them. Suddenly she knew what Mrs. Frederic always knew and what everyone always did. "You know I told Steve once, that we don't go after bad guys in our job. We go after artifacts. But that doesn't mean we can't stop bad guys from doing bad things. Or fix them when we need to." She paused and then said, "We did the right thing."

The older lady asked, "So, what do you think about Miss Wells? What should be done?"

"Oh wow," Claudia looked at her in the eyes, "you're not kidding are you?" Claudia looked at her hands, "She gave her life for Artie, Myka and Pete. I can't think of any other way to say it. She is a Warehouse Agent and needs to stay one. She needs to be with us." She looked up at the Regent, "I mean I don't exactly have that good of a record. My life was robbed from me. I made bad choices. But I came back. And I think Helena has too."

The young lady with the note pad asked, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Claudia was surprised it was over so quickly, "So what? Do I keep this?" She pointed to her head. "What happens next?"

The older lady answered after getting a nod from her fellow Regents, "We pass our recommendation along to Mr. Kosan. He makes the final decision. Thank you."

Claudia looked at them and decided then that she never wanted to play a game of poker with these folks. Their faces never changed. She got up and left the room.

_A/N Okay, this is likely going AU from here. Probably not what will happen next season. Please leave a review._

Fixed the Italics.


	3. Chapter 3 Release

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 3**

**The Conference Room**

Vanessa met Claudia as she came out of the conference room. She saw the look on Claudia's face. "Claudia, are you okay?"

Claudia was a little dejected. Everything had come so fast. She thought she was doing the right thing by helping Artie and HG and then bringing Steve back. She just wasn't sure about the Regents. She had no idea what they thought. And whatever happened to Pete's promise that when his mom got back they would fix everything? She looked up at Vanessa, "Look Doctor Calder, I don't want to sound like that bratty little kid, but why is this happening. I couldn't do anything to save Mrs. Frederic. It wasn't my idea to become the Caretaker."

"You didn't think you could bring back Mrs. Frederic?" Vanessa asked.

"Oh man, I wish. But she looked like she was petrified. You can ask Leena. We thought she looked more like a statue than…no it did not seem possible. And after I was connected with the Warehouse, I knew it was not possible." She paused and looked at Vanessa and saw the hurt in her eyes, "I am sorry but I knew the Metronome would not work. And thinking back about it, the White Rabbit's watch was too small. Like the Eldridge Ship's Barometer, it was localized. It covered the area of the Warehouse but not more than that." She shook her head and sat down.

Vanessa closed her eyes and looked back at the young woman. "You'll do fine."

Claudia tilled her head and looked at Doctor Calder. "So what happens next? Oh wait, what about Steve? Have you checked on him?"

Vanessa pointed to a seat and patted Claudia's shoulder. "He's actually going to be fine. Doctor Roberts reported that there are no traces of the drug in his blood or heart tissue. All of his systems, kidneys, lungs and muscles seem to be normal. They will release him later this afternoon."

"And Pete's mom? When is she getting back?" Claudia was still holding out for Pete's promise.

"She gets back tonight. Why?"

"Well, Pete said she could fix this," Claudia said with a little hope in her voice.

Vanessa shook her head, "No, now it's in Mr. Kosan's hands. He'll make the decision."

**The B&B **

Pete, Artie and Myka were sitting at the dinning room table. Myka was cross the table from Artie and Pete was sitting next to her. She looked at Artie, "What's going to happen? Where's Claudia? And what happened to Helena?"

"They are fine," Artie replied. He had just talked with Vanessa and knew things were okay. Both of them had a complete physical and the examinations checked out. They were okay. Claudia was not suffering any after effects from the Warehouse connection. And Helena's enhanced EEG readings came back normal. Claudia had been in to see the remaining Regents minus Mrs. Lattimer. Helena was in with them now. "Doctor Calder gave them an examine. And now the Regents are asking them some questions."

"What?" Myka instantly responded. She flashed back to the time she was with two of the Regents and Mr. Kosan. She was concerned. "What are they going to do with them?"

Artie shook his head, "I don't know. I was told that Mr. Kosan would have the final decision."

Pete entered the discussion, "They aren't going to put Helena back in the ball thing, are they?" He looked at Myka, "Yeah. I mean she gave up her life for us. That's worth a lot more than another trip to the ball."

"Artie, we have to do something." Myka was pleading. "And what about Claudia?"

"Yeah, I told Claudia that Mom could do something. She can, can't she?" Pete asked.

"I don't know Pete." Artie shook his head, "I wouldn't think so." He thought about it, "I don't ever remember not having Mrs. Frederic."

Myka suddenly remembered Charlie Martin talking about Mrs. Frederic and how she scared him. "Artie, just how long does a person stay the Caretaker?"

"Well, like I said, I don't remember anyone but Mrs. Frederic." He smiled at them, "I'm sure that if Claudia was not the right person, Mrs. Frederic and Doctor Calder would not have started the transfer back when you were at Warehouse 2. She'll do fine."

Mr. Kosan was at the door of the dinning room with Leena. He smiled. He had been listening to their discussion. "Pardon me for interrupting but we do have a few things to complete. I'll be talking with Agents Donovan and Wells in a few minutes. I've asked Leena to go over the details for Mrs. Frederic's funeral with you." He turned to Leena, "Thank you."

**The Conference Room **

Claudia started the long march from the door of the conference room to the chair next to Mr. Kosan. She began to think back, _'Myka said that he was the one who made the decision about reinstating HG as an agent. He was the one who gave HG an opportunity with the Janis coin. So, he did use artifacts to fix things. The coin was the way to separate her thoughts and make Emily. But what was he going to say now?' _ She finished her thoughts when she came to the seat, "Yes sir."

"Please Agent Donovan sit down." He waited while she did. "You have done well. I reviewed the reports and findings from the Regents. You were correct in your assessment of the situation. I also talked with Leena about the events prior to the first explosion at the Warehouse."

Claudia's eyes got a little bigger. She remembered being completely against Mrs. Frederic and holding the Metronome.

Mr. Kosan continued, "Claudia, you'll do well as the new Caretaker."

"Wait, what?" Claudia looked at him, "Look I don't want to be impudent but no one has ever explained this."

Mr. Kosan assumed she was talking about the job, "It's very simple. Your job is to keep the Warehouse functioning. For any important decision, like new agents, you'll make a recommendation, the Regents discuss and I make the final decision."

Claudia still wasn't sure about being the Caretaker. She wondered, '_No one said anything about what was needed for me to give the job to someone else. There was no talk of another candidate. So, do my ideas have any weight in this job?' _She decided to find out, "Yes, well, I did make a recommendation about Helena. What is going to happen?"

He smiled, "I am to talk with her next. Unless she turns it down, she will be a Warehouse Agent again." His eyes sparkled a bit, "I am sure she was a really great English teacher, but she can do a lot more as an agent if she accepts."

Claudia finally felt relieved. Seeing that Mr. Kosan did not move she decided to go a little further, "So, back to the Caretaker duties, am I to go in the field as an Agent anymore?"

He looked her over, "That will be up to you. There will be certain things that come to mind because of your connection with the Warehouse that you'll have to deal with. And then there will likely be the occasion that you'll feel the need to act as an Agent." He paused and folded his hands, "There is one thing that you must remember. Continued use of an artifact, no matter which one, has its downside. Mr. Sykes and Mr. Diamond had been using their artifacts for too long and as your friends may likely say, went to the dark side. I was happy to get the report that Agent Jinks is recovering and will be able to resume his duties. But you must remember that as the Caretaker, you are not their bodyguard. Agents take risks, and there are times when their decisions produce outcomes that we have wished were different." He stood, "I must talk with Agent Wells."

"Certainly," Claudia stood also. She said, "Thank you," and left the room.

**Outside the Conference Room**

Claudia had seen Helena go in the conference room. When Claudia came out of it, she decided to wait for Helena. Doctor Calder had already left and there was no one else, except a few guards at the doors. She was going back over the last few days, when Helena came out the door of the conference room. She looked happy. Claudia got up and went over to her, "Helena, what did he say?" She looked around and saw there were no guards following Helena, so there was hope.

"After some discussion, he offered me a position as an Agent again. I accepted." Helena measured Claudia with her look, "And darling Claudia, what pray tell happened with you?"

Claudia's face did not change, "I am the new Caretaker for the Warehouse."

Helena smiled, "I would say congratulations but that's probably not appropriate yet." She had a twinkle in her eye, "I would assume that is one of the differences between here and England. Even through the previous king has passed away and there is generally sorrow in that, the coronation of the new king is a celebration."

"Well, we aren't done with the first part yet," Claudia replied.

"Yes, quite so," Helena responded. "So what shall we do now?"

"Oh, I thought we would go over to the hospital and pick up Steve," Claudia said as she got out a set of keys. She smiled, "Steve's. It's a Prius, you'll like it."

"That will be fine. Myka said he was working undercover when I first saw him. It will be nice to meet him in a better environment," Helena responded.

They were walking out of the building when Claudia caught herself. She remembered the restored Helena would have been there when they killed Steve.

Helena saw her thinking, "No, I did not do it. Sykes had Marcus carry out the act." When she got in the car with Claudia she continued, "What that hideous creature did was beyond terrible."

"Well, Marcus' ticker was stopped. I am…" Claudia started.

"Don't say it. I know it leads down the wrong path." Helena looked over at Claudia and added, "You got him back. Be happy in that."

"But you found the men who…" Claudia started.

"That was my downfall. I was looking for revenge everywhere. I could not think of anything else. Even after those despicable men met their end, I was tainted. And one hundred years of thinking about ending their lives, did not make my sweet Christina come back." She folded her hands, "I tried everything I could to make it right but could not. There was nothing… But you, you have Steve back. Don't ruin it."

**The B&B **

Helena had already headed into the B&B. Steve bumped shoulders with Claudia on the way in. He smiled, "You've changed."

Claudia looked at him, "What?"

"You seem more serious, and a little tense," he shrugged.

She thought of about it. _'No, I'm not tense. Nope, not tense. The examine, the meetings with the Regents and Mr. Kosan, and then the almost lecture from Helena; plus getting you and trying to find out if you are really okay. A little serious, but not tense. Every day and in every way, I am getting better, and better.'_ She tried to shrug it off. "Just a few things to do. And we still have to take care of everyone. Leena was a mess last I saw her." She smiled at him, "Come on, we have a lot to do."

"Sure Sis," he smiled back. "Anything you want." She bumped him back.

They walked into the living room. Helena was being hugged by Myka and then by Pete. Even Artie gave her a hug. When Pete saw Steve, he bounded over and gave him a big bear hug and hearty handshake. He went on, "Man, so glad you are okay." He looked at Claudia, "He is okay, right?"

Claudia smiled and closed her eyes, "Yes, he's fine. Doctor Calder said he has a clean bill of health. The drug is gone." She saw the look in Myka's eyes, "It is not needed any more. He's fine."

Myka went to Steve and hugged him too. When Artie came over he said, "It's good to have you back," and shook his hand.

Helena interrupted, "Artie, I said you have a little business to take care of. You better be going. By now, she is waiting for you."

Pete broke out in a big smile, "Are Vanessa and Artie…"

Artie fired back, "Shut up…Shut up."

Myka punched Pete in the shoulder, "Leave him alone."

Artie started to walk by Claudia. She stopped him. She got close and nodded toward Leena, "She okay?"

"What? Yeah, we were working the arrangements," he saw Claudia nod. "So what did they say?"

"Kosan, said I'm it," Claudia responded. "Now go. If this is my first official act, then great. Go."

Artie smiled and walked out.

Myka was still not over getting Helena back. She was sitting with her, "So, what did they say?"

"Your Mr. Kosan was very nice. He agreed to reinstate me as a Warehouse Agent." She took Myka's hand, "I am still very sorry about…"

Myka placed her over hand on Helena's, "That's over. What you did." She almost started to cry.

"But you see that's not something I remember," Helena responded as she put her hand to Myka's cheek. "And me as a flaming ball is really something I would rather you not remember me for."

Claudia got Pete's arm and walked over to where Leena was looking at some notes. She looked at Pete and then Leena, "So, what do you have so far?"

Later that night they were gathered around the dinning room table. Jane was back and joined them for supper. After the phenomenal orchestration of people and dishes, they were all seated and the serving dishes were being passed.

Pete was seated across from his mom. He looked over at her and asked, "After all that and you did not bring back some Kung Pao chicken or Egg Rolls? I mean the restaurant was right there."

"Pete, there are a few rules we follow. We can't just bring back dinner and get it through customs," Jane shook her head at the thought.

Pete was on a roll, "Yeah, one of those nasty drug sniffing dogs will tear through the bag to get to your meal."

Vanessa smiled. She was sitting next to Artie. Jane was on his other side. Hearing this banter was better than earlier in the day. She was relieved the funeral arrangements had been finalized that afternoon. Mrs. Frederic's remains were being transported back to her home in Philadelphia. Her son had arranged for a local funeral home to do the services and burial. She made sure the casket would not be opened by putting a CDC biohazard label on the shipping documents. Leena had passed on the notes from the work that they had completed and the Regents were assuming most of the tasks. She was happy that Claudia had jumped the gun and got Artie mad. Claudia called his dad in Philadelphia and told him they were all coming and then gave the phone to Artie. She heard Artie mumble something about two funerals and took the receiver. He explained that they would be flying up there the next day. She remembered hearing the recollection of Irene from Artie's dad as the lady that kept appearing from nowhere. She was happy, everything was getting back to normal.

_A/N Please leave a review. _


	4. Chapter 4 Warehouse 12

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 4 Warehouse 12**

**Somewhere over South Dakota**

They were in a charter jet heading to the funeral. Leena had gone ahead to help get things set up. Jane, Vanessa and Artie were in the first row. Jane had the single window seat and was already asleep. Myka, Claudia and Helena were in the second row. Myka had the single seat and was already engrossed in an old favorite, The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. Pete and Steve were in the last row. Both were trying to find a good position to go to sleep.

Claudia had been spending as much time as she could trying to find out more about what was expected of her. She had already gone back to the Warehouse and read the manual. She was almost overwhelmed at the aroma of Artie's new attempt at baking. But the manual really did not have much more in it on the Caretaker than what Mr. Kosan had said. She had already tried Doctor Calder and did not get too much information other than, Mrs. Frederic got a yearly examine, and now that she was the Caretaker, Claudia would be getting them too. She also found that the good doctor was on call to her. Beside Pete's mom and Mr. Kosan, she was top priority. She would get the doctor's full attention if anything happened to her.

Artie was also one of the people she wanted to ask but it was a little difficult. She wanted Artie to have some time with Vanessa. Pete and Myka were also in the act of playing matchmaker. So with Vanessa and Artie together, well she was happy with that.

One of her targets was Pete's mom. Claudia knew Jane had to have been around earlier in Mrs. Frederic's tenure as the Caretaker. When she and Myka got back from Portland, Pete had given them the blow-by-blow on the baby shoe incident. Jane had to know more about what Mrs. Frederic did. But she seemed to be trying to recover from the jet lag and now was asleep.

Claudia looked at Helena. She did not know if she would know that much about Mrs. Frederic or her duties, but she might know what her Caretaker did. Maybe Warehouse 12 was the key. She could find out what happened back then she could apply it now. And if she found out more about Helena that could help out too. Claudia turned a bit in her seat and looked at Helena.

Helena immediately noticed Claudia's movement and asked, "Yes dear?"

"I was wondering what it was like when you were at Warehouse 12. Who were your Artie and Mrs. Frederic?" Claudia replied hoping she could get some good insight.

"Well now, what are you really looking for?" She responded.

Claudia was a little caught off guard. She wasn't trying to re-evaluate her idea that HG would be a good agent again, she was just looking for something more about what she should be doing. She smiled at the thought that just a while ago someone could have easily thought she was a caretaker at some ancient museum. Her day-to-day job was to inventory, cleanup and restack. But now she was an agent. She was just learning how to do that when everything blew-up on her. She decided on a direct approach to the problem, "I was roped into this job and have very little on what the job is. I was thinking that maybe what you did back at Warehouse 12 might help."

"Listen darling, I doubt very much they roped you into this position. You are well suited for it. You are very much like my teacher, mentor and friend Caturanga." She smiled remembering the first days there and the smell of the apples. How different things had become. But she did remember that smell again, after she connected the Tesla generator to her dome. "I tell you about the first days at the Warehouse and my first little venture."

Claudia tilled her head and asked, "Venture?"

"Yes, what Artie now calls, 'Snag it, bag it and tag it.' Just," she paused remembering one of her other stories and how it began, "well, I'll tell you the story of what had happened to me, but you must refrain from interruptions." She saw Claudia nod in agreement. "It was London in 1889. Christina was six years old then. I was rather desperate then. Charles had a couple stories published the previous year, but I was not getting much from the stipend." She saw Claudia's face and the question there and decided to explain.

"I had lived with my family over the years, but at the time Charles was moving on to a new post at the Henley House. I used the stipend from Henry's death to carry us through that time." She realized she needed to fill-in some more of the background, "Henry was my first love and husband. We wed in some secrecy after he was ordered to join a new unit in Egypt. That was a good and bad year. Christina was born, but a month later I received word that Henry was lost at the battle of El Obeid." Helena paused and collected herself, "A theft of some jewelry from a family friend brought me to the attention of my first employer. I helped the investigator find the thief and was able to return the jewels to their owner. After that a curious man, named Caturanga, visited me. He offered me a job and gave me the instructions of where to meet him. The location seemed rather peculiar. It was near Victorian Station. I am sure some of the tunnels to the Warehouse were built at the same time as the Underground. It was a long walk through those tunnels to the Warehouse. Upon reaching the door I found that it was open and a young man showed me to Caturanga's office. There were gaslights around the walls. Under most of those lamps were bookcases and they were all filled. Then there were workstations all around the room with papers and instruments scattered about.

"The first I heard from Caturanga was the question, 'What do you smell?' He came up from behind me as I was looking at one of the workbenches. Then he repeated, 'Miss Wells, what do you smell?' I could only smell one thing, apples. He walked around me and seemed rather happy at my response. He went on, 'Yes you do. Most people do not smell the apples. The Warehouse must like you.'"

Helena watched as Claudia smiled and her eyes got bright and happy. Claudia remembered the Warehouse when she was looking at the manual. She realized the smell of the apples was not from Artie's latest cookies.

"I gave my smart reply believing that buildings do not have personal affinities. He leaned and cocked his head, saying, 'This is not, as you will discover, just a building, Miss Wells.' He looked up from his papers and welcomed me to Warehouse 12 and gave his name. I asked if he was in charge. His reply may interest you. He chuckled and said, 'No, no, my job is to teach and to solve puzzles, we shall say.' I asked what kind of puzzles and he replied, 'Many sorts and to design them to. Sometimes to house a dangerous artifact, like that one.' He pointed to the Pulley Block from the Mary Celeste. It had a little plaque with that name and an inscription saying that it creates a dangerous serpentine rope. He stopped me from touching the rope."

Then Helena remembered that the rope came back and almost strangled her and Myka. _'__Most __disturbing __how __things __come __back __at __you.__'_

Helena went on, "Then he said the most amazing thing about his job. After mentioning the puzzles, he added to his job saying, 'Sometimes to brew the perfect cup of tea.'" She saw Claudia's look at that. "I think we thought the same thing at that. He continued saying, 'But the perfect cup of tea, that's a puzzle.' He said he read some of my stories and was impressed by my imagination. I was please. He recognized that it was I and not my brother Charles. But the Warehouse was truly a wonderment at that point. He agreed and said, 'There is always more to learn.' The next few days were spent with the other agents and learning more about the warehouse. I did notice that several of the items in Warehouse 12, now in Warehouse 13, have the same box, wrap or storage device. It makes me think that many of those were made by Caturanga.

"In a few days I confronted Caturanga, I had come into his office with a Webley. I said that these Regents of his should be gravely mistaken if they think I should be carrying around this. I held up the Webley in my hands. He looked at it and immediately said, 'The Webley Mark I, .455 Caliber, standard issue of the Royal Navy and local police constabularies. A fine weapon.' I looked at him and spoke what I still believed that guns have no place in a civilized society. He in-turn said, 'The Regents set the rules, and their rules state that all Warehouse agents must carry a fire arm.' I did not agree and said that there is always an alternative to killing. He answered, 'I agree,' and held up his stun gun."

Helena remembered the terrible incident with Sykes and Myka and knew she had to distract her thoughts. She moved to open her valise at that point and pulled out the stun gun. It was smaller than the regular Tesla, almost the same size as the new mini-Tesla Claudia had made. "I told him it wasn't issue. He nodded in agreement and replied, 'I changed the rules.' Where upon my new partner Agent MacShane came in to announce target practice and was promptly shot by Caturanga using the stun gun." She put the gun back in her valise.

Claudia glowed at the thought that things really hadn't changed. They did what they thought was right. She watched as Helena put away the stun gun Caturanga had given her. As Helena sat back up, Claudia asked, "Are you going to continue?"

"Certainly, my dear, my first curiosity surfaced the next day. Mr. Crowley got the notice through the pneumatic tube next to his station." She saw Claudia smile, "Yes, I did hear Myka say that you got yours to work. Your are quite like Caturanga." She paused and looked down. "Mr. Crowley read the notice and came over to Agent MacShane's station. He handed him the paper and said, 'Take Wells, she needs to learn. This should be an easy one. Stop by Caturanga and see if he has a replacement worked up.'

"Bobby, that was Agent MacShane's name, well actually Robert, read the notice and smiled at me. He gave me the paper. We were to extract Helen of Troy's Cuff bracelet from a collection of William and Mary relics that was being presented to the British Museum. It was to be shown in the new collection area in the White Wing.

"As Mr. Crowley suggested we went to see Caturanga first. When we entered his work area he called out, 'Agents Wells and MacShane, I was expecting you. Please have a seat. I'll be right down.' You see he was on a ladder reaching the top shelf for one of his books. He got the book from the shelf and brought it down to his workbench. After going through quite a few pages he exclaimed, 'Here it is.' He turned the book around and showed us the picture. He continued, 'At least we have a painting of it. This is the bracelet. It shouldn't take to long.' He began scribbling on a paper. 'Yes, about a day. I shall have it ready for you tomorrow afternoon. I suggest you and I, Miss Wells, visit Daniel Huddleston. Agent MacShane, if you would please, go to the museum where the reception will be held tomorrow and determine when and where will be the best to switch the bracelet.'

"At that point I thought we were just going to be high paid thieves, but I was soon to find that was not entirely true. We went next to the home of the curator for the exhibit. His name was Daniel Huddleston at 10 Hall Road. It was a short trip from the Station. We traveled in a Daimler Wire-Wheel that was provided by the Warehouse." She saw the look in Claudia's eyes. Helena went on to explain, "It was the first four wheel car with an engine that could get us to about 15 miles per hour. The wheels were wire construction similar to your bicycles of today, but instead of an inflated tire, the tire was a metal tube. There was a bench seat mounted on the carriage. Stick levelers were used to control the engine with a braking system to stop the front wheels. And of course there was a lamp in front to light the way. We traveled on brick roads so the ride was not too hard but it was rather bumpy."

"We got to Huddleston's house and we were invited into the study. His study was cramped with several hundred books. He came into meet us in a few minutes. I tried as Caturanga had instructed me to take everything in I could. I was happy that I did, being surprise by him asking me to sum up what I knew about the man we just met. I began, 'Beyond the obvious that he is a well read, that he takes snuff, that he is a Fellow in the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, that he is a Freemason, and has done a considerable amount of writing lately, I can deduce little else.'

"Caturanga nodded, 'Well done.' After he blew his nose, he added, 'You may have mentioned that he liked cats.' I chuckled, knowing how often he avoided cats.

"But the good man pressed it. He asked, "How, in the name of all that is good, did you come to know all that Miss Wells?"

"I began, 'We had the opportunity to review the contents of your study before you came to greet us. Your books on these shelves appear to be worn with several containing some kind of bookmarks, showing that you have spent sometime reading the contents. That you are a Fellow was evident from the plaque over your writing table. Your pin with the compass and square indicates you are a Freemason. And finally, your fountain pen appears to leak just a little and the ink stains on your fingers indicate you have been quiet busy.'"

Claudia nodded, "Just like Myka."

Myka looked up from her book after hearing her name, "What?" She had just gotten to point that D'Artagnan was making arrangements for afternoon lessons in manners.

Helena leaned over, "I was just telling her about my first artifact as an agent at Warehouse 12."

Myka looked at Helena. She wanted to hear the story too. Myka turn in her chair, "Oh, I'd like to hear that."

Helena was a bit perplexed, "How can we…"

Myka was already thinking about it, "Hey Pete, can we switch rows with you guys?"

Pete was almost ready to nod off to sleep and slowly shrugged and replied, "Sure."

The small fire drill ensued. Pete and Steve got out of their chairs and moved to the front. Helena moved to the outside window. Claudia held up her hand to Myka and pulled the jump seat down between the two regular seats. Myka took the last regular seat. Pete was happy and took the two seats Claudia and Helena were in, fluffed a pillow and was out in a second. Steve took the other seat and also went to sleep.

Helena looked at the other two. She smiled, "Well, this will certainly be easier. I thought I would certainly loose my voice if I tried to talk over the noise in here."

Pausing for a moment, Helena remembered where she was and began, "My partner and I were to find the bracelet of Helen of Troy. I went with my mentor, Caturanga." She noticed Myka's face at the mention of that name. "Right the puzzle guy. In this case he was helping. He was making a replicate of the bracelet so we could switch it with the real one and went with me on my first visit. We were at the home of the curator of the exhibit of this bracelet. It was to be a part of a collection of items from William and Mary.

"I had just explained to Claudia that Caturanga questioned whether I was observant as I should be when we met the curator. I had listed the characteristics of Daniel Huddleston, Esquire, FSA Scotland and a freemason." Helena smiled, "Claudia thought that was a little like you being so observant."

Myka nodded, "Okay, you can explain that later. Please go on with the story."

Helena continued, "We were in Daniel's study. He asked us to take a seat and sat in his desk chair. He explained that the pieces for the exhibit were scattered. Several museums had the pieces. His work was to identify the pieces that belonged originally to William and Mary. The piece we were after was in the York Castle Museum. Having obtained the information we needed, I suggested we needed to leave. Caturanga agreed and we headed back to the Warehouse. We met Agent MacShane in Caturanga's office.

"Caturanga looked at him as we met up. He thought about it and said, 'It would be beneficial if you could take a look at the bracelet and maybe take a few pictures of it. The painting shown in that book is good but may not be good enough to make a perfect match. Here's one of the new Kodak cameras. Bring it back and I'll process the film.' The camera was new at the time. It was actually fairly small." She held her hands making a box shape almost 4 inches square and 6 inches long.

Helena continued, "Bobby and I went back up to Victoria station and took the next train to York. The trip was pleasant. The train we took had a dinning car so the trip was manageable. We got to York in midafternoon and went to the Castle Museum.

"We were a bit confounded when we arrived. There were several men of the local constabulary milling around. Bobby went up to the man who appeared to be in charge and introduced us as inspectors from Scotland Yard. Detective Sergeant Donalds told us there had been a robbery. Several items from the vault were taken. While we hoped the vault would not be where the bracelet was kept but we knew that would not be the case. The Sergeant showed us to the vault and allowed as to look around.

"I tried to keep note of the things I saw. I can still remember some of them. Most of the items in the room were taken. There was mud on the floor, likely from the River Ouse and more likely from a stable by the river. There was a sack to the side of the room. It wasn't the museums. It was a potato sack with a couple pieces of dirt from the field still in it. Then there were two footprints. One with a pointed toe and one rounded. We finally looked outside and found a wheel track by the side door with similar mud to that from the vault and set of matching foot prints.

"As we walked away from the museum I began to explain what I had seen to Bobby and suggested that we go to a nearby stable that was by the river. After checking with one of the constables, he suggested the Jorvik stables. When we got to the stables, we found the owner putting away some of his tack.

"I asked the owner whether he had recently rented one of his wagons. He replied, 'Yes, this very morning. An older gentleman that carried himself well, like an old army officer, rented it. It was rather unusual though. There was a young ruffian with him that did the actual talking and made all of the arrangements.'

"As we walked away Bobby agreed, saying, 'That is quite unusual. It would have been normal for the older gentlemen to make the arrangements and agree on a price.'

"I smiled and replied, 'Maybe, it was not a gentleman.'

"We stopped at the telegraph office and sent a message to the Warehouse of our findings and that there would be no pictures of the bracelet. Then we made our way back to the train station and took the late night train back to London. Bobby was nice enough to see me to my residence. It was too late to tuck Christina into bed, but I went and checked on her. She was already asleep. I pulled the blanket up for her a little."

The Captain turned on the seat belt sign and announced that they were on the last leg before landing.

A/N Okay this is the first of Warehouse 12. I had a lot of fun with this one and hope you enjoy. Please leave a review.

Caturanga's History Lessons 

Curiosities (from Warehouse Episode 3.5 and see Cabinet of Curiosities, Wikipedia)

H.G. Wells published a couple stories in 1888, but none in 1889. He was at the time moving on to Henley House as a teacher (see Wikipedia).

The Battle of El Obeid, November of 1883, seemed to be the best imagining for the story of Helena. Forces under Colonel William Hicks were defeated in the Sudan (see Wikipedia).

Victorian Station seemed to be a reasonable location for Warehouse 12. Close to trains and the new Underground at the time (see Google Maps and Wikipedia).

Webley Mark I, .455 Caliber (see Last episode, 3.12 or Wikipedia)

Pneumatic tubes were likely in use at the time to send telegraph messages to the recipient (see Wikipedia).

A little imagining that Helen's Bracelet might have been in a collection presented to the Museum (see William and Mary relics from the Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Vol. XLV, dated Dec, 1889 page 250, 'Relics and Mementos of William and Mary,' by H. Syer Cumino, Esq., F.S.A. Scot.)

White Wing at the British Museum was added in 1885 (see British Museum site and history tab)

1889 Daimler Wire-Wheel and a little imagining that the Regents would get this car for the Warehouse, (use Google for various articles and pictures)

Fellow in the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, (see reference above and Google to FSA Scotland)

Freemason (see Google to Grand Lodge Freemason Scotland)

York Castle Museum (see Google to York Castle Museum .uk)

Eastman Kodak camera 1889 (see Google various articles)

A little imaging used Inspectors and Detective Sergeant as a part of a Criminal Investigation Department (see Wikipedia)

H.G. Wells, The Time Machine, 1898 and Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and "A Scandal in Bohemia"


	5. Chapter 5 Condolences

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 5-Condolences**

**Philadelphia International Airport**

Izzy Weisfelt was waiting at the terminal. He was already a bit annoyed by the goons with the funny little eye pin on their coats. He saw the group coming in through the security station and smiled. The annoying girl was still with them, but more importantly his son appeared to be walking with a woman, a nice looking woman, about his age. He looked happy and was talking with her. It looked promising, possibly more promising than Olga, Artie's sweet heart back in high school.

Artie pressed forwarded and met his father with a hug. "It is good to see you."

"Well, you almost did not. Had she," Izzy pointed at Claudia, "not called. What? You would have come and gone…"

"No. No, we had not found what…never mind," Artie stopped when he noticed Vanessa approaching. "Vanessa this is my father, Izzy Weisfelt. Dad, this is Doctor Vanessa Calder."

"A pleasure to meet you." Izzy looked back at Artie, "She works with you?"

Vanessa spoke up, "I am their physician, but mainly on call. I work down at the CDC in Atlanta on a daily basis."

Izzy's eyebrows went up at Artie, "Nice. Very nice."

"Dad…" Artie looked as perplexed as ever.

Pete came up next with his mom. He was almost laughing at what happened with Artie. "Hi Izzy. This is my mom, Jane Lattimer. Mom, this is Artie's dad, Izzy Weisfelt."

Jane went first, "So nice to finally meet you."

Izzy picked up that something was going on. He looked at Artie, "She's worked with you?"

"Well, yes. She is like on our board of directors. Her position is a Regent." Artie looked back at Jane and nodded that Izzy was in fact Artie's one person that knew. Artie smiled. It wasn't like Izzy really knew. He did not seem to care. He knew that Artie and the rest of the people at the B&B were good people, they worked with Artie and Artie was happy.

Artie then saw the rest of the group coming up. He went on, "You remember Myka. Her dad has the book shop in Colorado?"

"Sure, sure. And I do appreciate your father finding that Davenport book on Mozart." Izzy smiled and took her hand.

Then Artie almost got out something about Claudia but she was bobbing up and down in front of Izzy almost like a little girl. Izzy commented, "See, hasn't changed. Yak, yak, yak and can't hold still."

Claudia gave Izzy a hug around his neck. She said, "So glad you could come."

Artie saw Helena and Steve standing there. Artie started, "Dad, we have two other new people. Helena Wells and Steve Jinks. They joined us this year."

Helena had a smile and said, "Please to meet you, sir."

Izzy took her hand and looked at her, "Quite an honor to meet you." Helena looked over at Myka with a question in her mind, _'__Does __he __know __who I am__?__'_ Myka shrugged.

Steve stepped up and broke the question, "Very nice to meet you, Mr. Weisfelt."

Izzy looked at Steve, "See, they still do make polite young men." He looked back at Helena, "Please, both of you, call me Izzy."

Claudia smiled and started, "Yes, please call me Ish…" She ducked as Izzy swatted at her.

Izzy turned to Artie, "So, when do you have to be there? And are all these men here for you?" Izzy swept his hand around the room.

Artie looked around the room. He was a bit surprised that there were so many. He turned to his dad, "Well, we just experience some disturbing events. So there is a little extra protection for us and our Regents."

Jane nodded, "We'll cut back after this."

She was almost interrupted when two of the men came over, "Mrs. Lattimer. We are here to escort you. I'm Agent Johnson and this is Agent Davis."

Then the real surprise came. A rather large young man approached Claudia. He looked like a Samoan wrestler from WWE. He asked, "Excuse me miss, are you Claudia Donovan?"

"Ah, sure," was the only reply Claudia gave. She wasn't sure of this. She began to wonder whether ducking behind Pete would do any good.

"I am Agent Katundo Mulinu, your new driver and security," he offered.

Claudia's eyes got big, "Wow." She was looking around and it appeared she was getting no support until Jane came over.

"Sorry, Honey. We certainly should have given you a better explanation. Especially right now, and at least for a while, you'll have security assigned to you. It's our recommendation and he approved," Jane explained.

Claudia nodded. She knew she was trapped in this and right now was not the time to get it changed. Instead she looked at him, "Okay Kato," suddenly realizing she was the boss here, she added, "is that okay? And do we have enough cars to get us all to the hotel?"

Pete looked at his mom, "She's got a Kato? How did…"

Agent Mulinu smiled, "Right Kato, that is fine. It's the nickname I've had since grade school. And this will likely be temporary. Our assignment from SAC Philly, put Agent Johnson and Davis with Mrs. Lattimer through the services here. There are other agents assigned to cover the other people you'll have in town. I was told that I'll be with you for at least six months and then they would re-evaluate the requirement. And yes, we have plenty of cars. Your security men will also support." He pointed to the other men with the Horus pin.

Helena turned to Myka, "SAC Philly?"

Myka knew it well from her assignments in the Secret Service, "It's like the head of the FBI in Philadelphia, Special Agent in Charge."

"Right," she said in reply.

Artie echoed that, "Right, we need to be on our way folks."

**Jackson Funeral Home, Philadelphia**

There was going to be a small service at the funeral home as some of the dignitaries had to attend other functions. It was to be followed by a short graveside service. Mrs. Frederic's husband had passed away many years ago, and she was to be buried next to him. Leena was standing by the casket next to Mrs. Frederic's son, Alexander. The people filed through the line almost in the order they came to the funeral home.

The head of the Secret Service paid his respects, along with the Mayor of Philadelphia. Cousins, their families and a few friends also passed through the line. Mr. Kosan and several of the Regents came together.

Myka and Claudia convinced the group they flew in with to go together. Actually, there was hardly any other way to do it. They went to the hotel after landing and changed clothes. Meeting in the lobby, the FBI agents ushered them into the vans and over to the service. Vanessa, Artie and Izzy exited the first van. Jane, Pete and Myka followed them. Then Claudia, Helena and Steve exited the last van.

Izzy asked Artie one last time, "Should I really be here?"

Artie shook his head, "She was my boss. When Claudia brought you and the piano, you met Irene and even talked with her. You're a part of this now." Now that they had gotten back together Artie was trying to include his father when he could.

Vanessa smiled at this. She added, "She would have very happy you came."

Pete heard the exchange, "Yeah, she certainly was a happy person." He got a little poke in the shoulder from Myka. "Hey, I mean she had to like this or think it was fun. How many times can you sneak up on someone and not laugh when you scare the crap out of them? She did that when I first saw her. She was already in my apartment and came out of the shadows. Myka, you said she did that same thing when she asked you back."

Myka nodded at her memories, "Yes, I was looking at the folio and when I looked up she was within three feet of me. How she got that close with out me noticing…"

Steve had caught up with them, "Wow, she really out did herself with me. She must have been laughing the whole time after she saw me. I had just gotten back to my apartment and listened to the voicemails. There was one from her to turn on the lights. When I did, she was standing in front of me."

Artie agreed, "Yes, that was her second nature. I don't know how many times she was just there in an instant. But she really was a good boss. She took care of the Russians for me." He thought about his name change and all that went with it. That led to Leena and MacPherson. "She really did help Leena through the MacPherson attack."

Claudia heard that and cringed. She remembered too, how she had been blamed for everything back then. She did not blame Leena anymore for the worst identity theft yet. But it did start to bother her that MacPherson and then Sykes could gather that many artifacts without anyone knowing.

When they got to Leena everyone was giving her a big hug of comfort and condolence. Jane lingered behind and took her to a seat. The service was quick and they were all ushered out to the parking lot. Their security guards helped them back into the same vans and they all proceeded to the cemetery. The procession was long but the cemetery was fairly close. The service closed with Irene's son and Leena laying flowers on the casket.

A/N A little short one in-between Helena's story. Please leave a review.


	6. Chapter 6 Reception

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 6-Reception**

**Philadelphia, The Regalton**

They met for breakfast before heading back to the Warehouse. Artie was going to stay over and visit with his dad. Vanessa had agreed to stay an extra day, 'to see where Artie grew up.' Pete was going to take a small vacation. He was going back to North Canton with his mom. He was going to stay the weekend and take in a few football games.

Pete was down in the dinning room first and arranged for a large table. Vanessa and Artie came followed by Leena, Myka and Steve. Claudia and Helena were next and then Jane.

Going through the buffet line, Leena was next to Claudia. Leena looked at her and thought something seemed off. She asked, "Are you feeling okay this morning?"

Claudia felt a little anxious that morning. She thought she needed to get back to the Warehouse. She had a struggle that night with a dream she couldn't remember but seemed to have breathing problems. But she some how knew getting back would solve the problem. She looked back at Leena, "Just a little anxious about getting back. But how about you? Are you alright?"

"Yes, I am better. Yesterday was hard. She helped me and was the one who got MacPherson out of my mind," Leena looked down.

"Leena, how much do you know about Mrs. Frederic and her connection with the Warehouse. What could she do?" Claudia asked.

"I think she could sense that things were wrong. Before you got with us, actually before Pete and Myka, she used to send Artie out to get something before we got a ping. I think there were a few cases where she either went with Artie or was there when he got there." She paused, "But I do not know how she did all she did for me. She must have spent a lot of time going over the books in the repository."

Claudia closed her eyes at the thought. She wondered whether she could speed things up a bit.

Myka caught with Jane, "So, are you going to come back to the Warehouse any?"

Jane smiled, "You know in the old days, the intent of a Regent was a very carefully guarded secret. But now that you all know me and if it is okay with Pete, I'll be out fairly often."

Pete had a chocolate covered croissant in his mouth but managed a mumbled, "That's okay."

**In the skies over the Mid-West**

It was another charter flight. Helena, Myka and Claudia were seated together. The beginning of the flight was a bit bumpy. The captain announced that he had clearance to climb to a higher elevation. Helena agreed that she would continue the story of her first venture. Steve, Kato and Leena were in the other aisle.

Helena, Myka and Claudia had got as comfortable in their chairs as they could. Helena turned to Claudia and smiled, "So, you going to keep him?" She looked over at Kato.

Claudia's eyes got big, then twinkled, "Well, Artie's got Trailer. I figure I could…"

Myka punched her in shoulder, "Claud." Then she looked at Helena, "Are you going to continue your story?"

"So you really want to hear more of this astonishing tale?" Helena looked at Myka and then Claudia. Both nodded yes. "Mr. Crowley was rather abrupt the next morning. Bobby and I had gone back to the Warehouse to see if anything else came in on the robbery. We were met with Mr. Crowley saying, 'So you spent all that time up in York. What did you find? Anything on the artifact?'

"I was a little taken back by his attitude. He had been rather friendly until then. Bobby did not seem to care a bit. He replied, 'We sent our report in last night. Did you get any other information?'

"Crowley was not happy and barked back, 'What do you presume me to be? Your servant? Get your own reports. Tell me when you have the bracelet.' I would have sworn that he seemed a bit on edge.

"I replied, 'Well, we can certainly send out a request for assistance. That Detective Sergeant in York seemed helpful. Maybe he will reply.'

"Bobby nodded and we went to our stations. I crafted a message and gave it to Bobby. He reviewed and agreed. It was rather simple just asking for any further information. I sent it to the constable's office in York." She paused and thought about it for a second, "You see at that time we were using the telegraph for most of our messages. Even between agents we had a system of connecting to nearby telegraph lines, something that Caturanga whipped up. He had given us a code, which was easy to use, and probably avoided most detection. It was still a few more years before we met with Niki Tesla and found out about his experiments in radio."

Claudia had to ask at that point, "How did you find out about your Curiosities? Did Caturanga have a part in it?"

"Well now, we all did. When we were not in the field, we were looking to see if there was anything out there. Things took a bit longer, but we essentially gathered the same information. We would get the newspapers and journals from all over the world. Each of us had a specific country or rather language. We would read those papers and make note of anything unusual or out of the ordinary. The note cards were consolidated and reviewed. Crowley looked for things and, you were right, Caturanga did too. Then, it was later that I found our Regents had a part. They were scattered. We had a few from England, but then there were more in Europe and in various countries around the world. They were actively looking too." She saw that answered Claudia's question and Myka nodded.

"Well back to the story, Caturanga sent us a note to see him in his office. As we walked into his office, I noticed that he was his normal warm and cheery self. He looked us over and began, 'I read your report with some interest. It was an unhappy note to hear that the museum at York had been robbed. I was however glad you stopped at the Jorvik stables. At least we have a small lead in the venture.'

"He turned to one of his workbenches, 'This my dear is the replacement. I did use the painting to develop it, so we must trust in the artist being true to the art. You'll find that this bracelet would allow you to slip it rather easily on to someone's arm. It appeared in the painting that hinges were here and here. That would allow for one to release it from your arm and snap it on another's.' He passed the bracelet to me.

"Where upon, I put it on my wrist and in shaking his hand, transferred it to his wrist. His eyes lit up with glee, 'Yes, yes. Just as I was hoping.' He took it off and gave it back. 'Now, we only have to find where the original is located.' Turning to the Times, he asked, "Are you still intending to go to the reception tonight?'

"Bobby immediately answered, 'Yes, we still have the invitations. With the theft, I would expect someone at the reception will know more about the potential market for such items.'

"Caturanga looked his glasses and then at me, 'I should think you would expect something else?'

"I nodded my head, 'Yes. The army officer was a little peculiar. I am still waiting to find out more.' He was pleased with my answer and asked me to come back for a bit of tea." Helena knew the next question.

"Oh," Claudia started. "You have to explain what he did for tea."

Helena eyes twinkled at this, "You know of all the years he was with us I still don't know if he settled on the perfect cup. But his prescription was to find a suitable teapot first. It had to be one that would hold enough tea and not go cold very fast. Next he would warm up that pot, while he heated the water. He preferred fresh water from the Molesey reservoir. Actually his design for our water system got water from Molesey. He said the temperature for the water needed to be 198 degrees. He used a special thermometer to check it. Then he put five teaspoons of tea in the infuser, a metal basket that held the tea. The tea was a special blend for a black tea he had made with imports from Ceylon and a bit of Bergamot orange. He would let it brew for three minutes."

Myka smiled, "Well, we'll have to keep up the tradition. A little cup of tea would be nice with a good book."

Claudia interjected, "Just as long as we are careful not to use the Potter tea set. Pete still talks about your outfit."

Helena looked at the two of them, "Potter, who? And what outfit?"

Claudia smiled, "Finish this and we'll tell you a funny little story about a video game and a tea set."

Helena responded, "Yes, that would be nice. Well, for the reception that evening I had my hair curled in a bun with a gold tiara holding it in place on the top of my head. There was a small, what you would call a braid in the back. I wore a necklace that matched the tiara. We wore very tight corsets back then and that night was no different. The dress was nice purple satin with pleats in the front and back of the floor length skirt. A broad satin ribbon was around my waist, and then the dress had a low V-neck with bow straps. I wore long gloves that evening. They helped hold the bracelet in place. Ribbons were being worn then and I had one to cover the bracelet." Helena saw that there were going to be some questions.

"Yes, back to the tea. Caturanga and I did have our tea. And it was perfect for that afternoon. He had been reading the afternoon notices. Those were the reports from various news sources and police wires. He said one struck him as odd. There was a small scuffle on the noon southbound train. A few lads apparently thought the fancy of a girl was directed at them and a fight broke out. Caturanga gave me the report, saying, 'Look at this. I think we may have some movement.'

"I read the report and commented, 'Do you think the thief would actually come to the reception with the bracelet?'

"He had a sip of the tea and commented, 'Almost. You apparently think it is possible. Take the bracelet with you tonight. If you have the opportunity, do switch it.' He finished his tea.

"I asked, 'What of the thief?'

"I was still caught by his answer, 'We are in the artifact business, not police business. Remember we do not catch bad people, we retrieve artifacts and put them safely away.'

"That evening Bobby came to pick me up at the Warehouse. He came in a carriage and got out to help me to my seat. After looking me over, he said, 'You look ravishing. If the real bracelet was at the museum, we won't know if you have the fake or real bracelet.' Then he saw my wrist, 'Wait, you expect the artifact to be here tonight?'

"I nodded and explained, 'Yes. The first clue was the muddy footprints. Remember one of the prints was a pointed toe. It was too small for a normal sized man. Next, something I noticed by the wheel tracks, the pointed toe shoes were next to the rounded shoes. It would be the same as your position and mine as you helped me into the carriage. And finally, the army officer did not take charge of a significant detail of their robbery. Choosing a wagon and suitable horses, would be something a normal officer would not pass on and it would be critical to a successful escape with the goods.'

"I smiled at him, 'I fully expect the main thief to be a woman. And I do expect her to be at the reception tonight. The real problem I have is that I do not know her objective. Using the bracelet would give her considerable advantage over anyone. They would do as she asked to gain her favor. The objective could be another theft or as simple as getting back at some past lover.'

"He looked at me in a bit of amazement. He asked, 'Are you a bit of a romantic? A lover?'

Helena said, "I smiled and nodded. We rode in silence, as I tried to think of how to identify the woman. The British Museum was a short distance away and we rode to the front of building."

"Bobby helped me get out of the carriage. We walked up the stairs and I looked up at the Ionic columns that lined the front. There was a company of the Royal Guards lining the front of the museum too. It was certainly reasonable and somewhat expected that some of the Royals would be at the reception.

"We were initially received by a few officials of the museum. They welcomed us and pointed the way to the White Wing. Bobby and I walked to the entrance. It was apparent as we entered the reception hall that two ladies were receiving a great deal of attention.

"Bobby noticed the younger one. At that point I believe she was likely much younger than I." She looked at Claudia, "Yes dear, I know young people are fully capable of many things. But at that point I was only two years your senior. The center of attraction that Bobby went to explore, I guessed at most to be eighteen years old."

"I put my attention on the other. I initially kept my distance. I watched her as she talked to her followers. They seemed to be gathering every word and moving with her. The thing that bothered me was that she was wearing long gloves and there was no bracelet on top of them. I shadowed her for the next few minutes.

"Finally she left her crowd and headed to the facilities. I followed her there."

Helena smiled, "You'll be interested in this. As I approached the facilities, a man came from around the corner at me. It was Caturanga. He said, 'Well done. Cover your ears if she begins to talk to you. The artifact is activated by voice.' And then he was gone, but he was involved in the venture.

"In another surprise of the day, the lady went to wash her hands. She turned and I saw her reflection in the mirror. I was positive there was a glimmer in her eyes. Then she took her gloves off and her jewelry. It was almost too easy. I moved next to her and began to wash my hands and freshen myself. She looked away to find a towel and I switched the bracelets.

"I must say that my biggest surprise was the hinges being almost the same. I quickly put my gloves back on, fastened the bracelet to my wrist and put the ribbon back on.

"Then she gave me a fright. I was about to turn and leave when she asked, 'Pardon me, could you help me fasten the dress in the back?'

"I tried to work her buttons into place but it wasn't working. I said, 'It will just be a second. I have to remove my gloves.' As soon as I removed the glove on my arm with the bracelet, I thought I saw my reflection in the mirror with a glimmer in my eye. I knew at that point it was the artifact." Helena shifted in her seat.

The Captain turn on the seat belt sign and announced that they were on the last leg before landing. Claudia knew she would have to wait, but at least she found that Caturanga was out there with the agents on their Ventures.

A/N Okay this is the second of Warehouse 12. Still having fun and hope you enjoy. Please leave a review.

Caturanga's History Lessons 

Telegraph with a little imagining, should have a main tool of the Warehouse agents back than. A few years later with Nikola Tesla's help they would be using a wireless telegraph (radio). (See Wikipedia)

The perfect tea is a compilation of several recipes (use Google). Also, tea from Ceylon and Bergamot orange (See Wikipedia)

Molesey was part of a new reservoir in the water system for London (See Wikipedia)

Helena's outfit for the Reception was imagined from 1889 Ball Dresses (See Google)


	7. Chapter 7 Really

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 7-Really**

**Warehouse 13**

The next day Myka and Leena were out on the balcony looking over the Warehouse. Myka shoulders slumped. She grimaced, "It's hard to believe the rafters had that much dust."

Leena was not very happy either. "Yeah, that and the shelves that fell over. This is going to take a long time."

Myka was still shaking her head when Claudia stepped out. She was in overalls and was the model of a well-equipped janitor. She had gloves, purple ones, spray bottles, rubber boots and head gear with filter and eye protectors. Myka looked at her up and down, "Really?"

"Sorry. I mean I am really sorry. Of all the things I could think of, this was not what I wanted. I spent two years under Artie's thumb restocking, redoing and cleaning this place. Now I get to do it all over again," Claudia shook her head.

Even Leena was surprised, "Really?" She looked at Claudia a little more carefully. "Are you alright?"

Claudia blinked her eyes, "I feel like I have the biggest stuffed up nose ever. It started on the way back. The only way I can explain it is that it has something to do with the warehouse." She shrugged. "I am sorry but I need everyone to help." She smiled a little, "I even got Kato to help."

Myka was surprised at that, "Really?"

Claudia smiled in response, "Well, I told him that it was either I am breathing or I am not. He kind of took that as part of his job to make sure I keep breathing." After she said that Helena, Steve and Kato came out to the balcony with similar outfits.

Helena smiled at Myka, "Yes, I really am going to help."

They had been working through the morning and now it was well into the afternoon. Claudia saw the light on her Farnsworth go off. She had modified it to alert her to a ping. It did not give her any more information other than there was one. Claudia held her hand up to the group. "There is a ping. Let's take a break and go check it." Everyone was more than happy to follow her to the offices.

They got to the console. Claudia read off the results, "Four deaths in Miami, three women and one man. Possible stings from Jellyfish, but none spotted in the waters."

"Certainly people die in the waters off your coast, " Helena almost questioned.

Claudia continued, "Yes, but there is a connection. They were biochemists." She typed on her laptop for a second, "And there was no convention for biochemists."

Myka said, "Well, we should certainly check this out."

Helena nodded, "Wells and Bering at your service."

Myka shook her head and laughed, "Bering and Wells."

"Wait, Artie will shoot me if we don't call him." Claudia knew better than to send anyone, even herself, out on a snag and bag. This was Artie's call. He still needed to be the person telling them what to do.

Myka smiled, "Probably all of us." She got out her Farnsworth. Artie immediately appeared. His hair was a bit disheveled. She looked at that for a second before beginning, "Artie, we have a Ping down in Florida. Four people have been killed and it is tied together."

Vanessa replaced Artie in the picture, "I was alerted to that through CDC just a few minutes ago. I'll be headed down there tomorrow. We have a team down there now making the initial analysis. Be careful, those were not Jellyfish stings as first reported. It is some kind of disease. We will alert you when we find out what it is."

Artie replaced Vanessa, "Helena, you've worked in this field before." He took silence as agreement. "I want you and Myka to head down there now and see what you can find out. If you can identify the artifact and not get sick, bring it back. I'll send Pete down on Monday." The Farnsworth went blank.

"Well, a little time at the beach. Should be fun," Helena suggested.

Steve stood there with his broom and moaned, "It would be better than cleaning duty." He saw Claudia stick out her tongue and did so in reply.

Leena was happy with something to do, "I'll get your tickets ready."

Claudia looked at Steve and Kato. It was pointless. "Okay, let's blow this joint. We can always do more tomorrow." She was hoping to see Dwayne Maddox before he got a replacement guitarist or worse forgot about her.

**The B&B**

Myka was in Helena's room. She smiled, "It is still going to be hot down there."

"Yes, that was what I had expected. They shipped me the clothes that I wore when I was Emily. I must say they are better than those grey clothes I thought I would be in forever." She shook her head, "Every time they or you got me out I was wearing the same thing."

"Okay, are you all set then?" Myka looked at her closing the bag. "And I guess I do have a question." She saw Helena nod. Myka went on, "So, do you remember when you where Emily?"

Helena paused and looked at Myka, "I do. It's very strange, almost like when I used the time machine. I was there for everything but the entire memory of the event is missing."

Myka was a little concerned, "But you're okay?"

"Oh, yes. It is not a problem." Helena tried to explain it again, "Remember when you used the time machine. The things you thought were you. Now, imagine that you were able to see, feel, hear and everything that Rebecca would have." Helkena looked at Myka, "Next, imagine that you have Rebecca's thoughts and ideas, but not yours."

"Hmm," Myka nodded.

"Yes well, let us be on our way." Helena got her bag and Myka followed her out the door of the bedroom.

When they got down stairs, Leena met them, "I got the tickets printed out for you. You'll get in late, but the hotel will hold your rooms. I have you booked in the Regalton on South Beach. It's close to the location of the deaths."

"Great, thank you." Myka responded, then saw Claudia heading for the door. "Hey, where are you going?"

Claudia smiled. She couldn't help it. It just came out. "Going to show Kato how to drive around Univille."

"Claud!" came from both Myka and Helena.

"Right, sorry. I am going to see Maddox and I am still trying to figure out how to explain this," she shrugged.

"Dwayne?" Myka asked. "Is he?"

"I don't know. We've only been together three times. And I have not seen him since you guys left for Wyoming," she looked down.

Helena smiled, "Don't worry darling, I am sure he is still interested."

Claudia smiled back and went out the door. She met Steve and Kato at the car. Steve smiled at her, "So, this is the guy you called about?"

Claudia had to stop and remember, "Yeah, right."

Steve looked at Kato, "And you're going to take her?"

"Yes, we still aren't certain that there isn't a threat to her," Kato responded.

Steve looked at Claudia, "So, do you want me to come along too?"

Claudia gave up at that point. It might be a little easier to explain, "Sure. I am just going to meet him at the coffee house."

"Okay, I'm in."

**The Coffee House **

Dwayne looked up from his coffee and saw Claudia come into the shop. She had a guy with short hair and no smile behind her. He swept the room with his eyes. Next came a big hulk, certainly a pro-wrestler or maybe a center for some pro-football team. He carried himself the same way and checked behind and then the entire shop.

As Claudia approached, Dwayne said, "Wow. You still marked for death?" That produced a reaction in the men following Claudia, Dwayne was not really expecting. One reached behind his coat and apparently to the small of his back. The big man slid a hand behind the front of his coat. Dwayne's eyes went wide, "Whoa, kidding!" His hands went up.

Claudia turned and looked at Steve and Kato, "What did I just say? Come on, this is Univille. What can happen here?" Not seeing any movement from Kato, she added, "And if you'll notice, the barber's pole now has an extension in here." She pointed to the small red, white and blue pole over the brew station.

She turned back to the table, "Listen Dwayne, the warning label still applies. Stuff still happens to me."

Kato came a little closer and looked straight at Dwayne, "My job is to make sure it doesn't."

Claudia shook her head, "Wait Dwayne, this is my partner, Steve."

"Ah, I thought you said you were…"

Claudia caught on quickly, "No. No. He's my partner at work. We watch each other's back. And this is Katundo Mulinu. He works with us too."

Steve shook Dwayne's hand. Kato smiled, "Nice meeting you." He held out his hand.

Dwayne took the offered hand cautiously. This guy was twice his size.

Claudia sat down and the others sat around the table. Claudia leaned over to Dwayne, "Look I am sorry I was gone for such a long time."

"Yeah, I appreciated the calls. You sound pretty shattered when you first called. Was everything at the funeral okay?" DuWayne asked.

Claudia remembered the sequence. She called Dwayne when she came back after Steve got killed. Then again when they were getting ready for Mrs. Frederic's funeral. He must have assumed they were the about the same person. "Thank you, everything was fine. Sorry, that I was a little irrational the first time."

"Yeah, you must have had quite a connection to her," Dwayne replied.

"Yes, well, more than you'd think possible," Claudia smiled.

"Say, I have another set to do, then we can either just hang here or try something else," DuWayne started to get up.

"Sure, when you get done," Claudia nodded.

After Dwayne headed away, Steve asked, "You were irrational?" He saw her just look at him and knew what the first call was about. "Oh."

A/N Please leave a review.


	8. Chapter 8 Jellyfish

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 8-Jellyfish**

**Miami**

Myka and Helena had at stopped by the coroners office only to find that they were not open until the coming Monday. Next stop was the police station for South Beach. Myka started with the Sergeant at the dispatch desk. "I am Agent Myka Bering, Secret Service. This is my partner Agent Wells. We are here to investigate the deaths near here of four people, initially reported as deaths from Jellyfish."

"It's five now. Go see Inspector Meyers. He has the case." The Sergeant pointed to a cubical at the end of the room.

Myka started toward the cubical and Helena followed. Myka knocked on the side of the cubical and the man stood up. He said, "Yes, can I help you?"

"Well, I hope so. I am Agent Myka Bering and this is my partner Agent Helena Wells. We were sent to review the cases of the now five people killed by something that was originally identified as a Jellyfish."

"Hum, the plague," the man responded.

Helena's eyes got big, "What?"

"CDC was called in. Their initial report was the plague. But they are now trying to be more specific. They have one of the bigwigs coming in today to oversee the findings," the Inspector added.

Myka thought about that. It matched with what Vanessa said. She asked, "Doctor Calder?"

"Yes," the Inspector answered now believing they were in the know and apart of the investigation.

"Are there any similarities between the victims other than they were all biochemists?" Myka followed up.

"We have checked their employment. Two were with the same firm but the others were with different companies," he responded.

Helena then asked, "We had checked before we came about whether there was a convention in town that would draw so many biochemists. We could find none. Was there anything else?"

"No, there is no convention for biochemistry right now. Or even a medical convention. These people were not from Miami. It is one of the things we are working on right now. Trying to link together why these people were here." He reached to some papers on his desk. "Here's an extra copy of what we know now. If you would, please let us know if you find anything. Right now we only have two other detectives trying to track this down."

Myka realized they were not going to get any further and happily said, "Thank you. We'll run this through our analysts and see if there is anything else. Anyone else working this?"

The Inspector smiled, "Yes, although I am not sure why. But there is a group of specialists from DoD down here. Not sure if it is just Defense or Homeland Security. They are not sharing much."

Helena smiled, "Thank you, we'll be careful not to step on anyone's toes."

Once they got in their car they called into Artie and reported their findings. Artie answered, "Well, call Claudia and have her run the information. Doctor Calder…"

Myka did not let it slide, "Artie? Vanessa?"

"Yes, Vanessa will be landing in another hour. Talk to her and see if her people have anything else. Otherwise, check with the hotels they were at and see if they went some place in common." Artie did not hear a positive response and ended with, "Let's hope Claudia can pull something together for you."

Myka wanted more, "So, you and Vanessa…"

Artie ended it, "Bye."

Helena looked at Myka, "Is that good or bad?"

Myka smiled one of her more impish smiles, "Good, very good."

In a little while, Myka finished showing the last sheet of paper to Claudia, "That's it. The last sheet. So the main players are Vanessa and CDC, then Inspector Meyers from the local police. He did seem like a nice guy and should help. He also mentioned a group from DoD. If you can run those pages and see if there is anything, we'll be out doing some foot work, knocking on doors."

Helena smiled at Myka, "So, how was last night? Did you see your Maddox fellow?"

"Yes, we all went to see Dwayne. He hit it off with Steve. By the end of the evening they were playing a serious game of Call of Duty," Claudia paused.

"What?" Helena whispered.

"Video game," Myka answered. Then she asked Claudia, "I thought you played."

"Yeah, Dwayne and I teamed up against them. They won." She smiled, "Kato went out to celebrate with Steve. It worked."

Myka nodded. Steve was a good partner and had her back. She was happy that Steve took Kato out and Claudia got some time alone with Dwayne, "Great. Well, let us know."

**Warehouse 13**

Claudia replied, "Sure will," and ended the call. Claudia was happy to work a little in the office. She was already in her Mrs. Wiggins outfit. Fortunately it was comfortable enough to work in the office.

Steve came through in a little, "Hey Claud."

"Hey," her head was down and typing. She did look up at him, "Say, thank you for coming in and helping. Leena and Kato are already down on the floor." An alert drew her attention back to the laptop. "Ask Kato to come up to the office."

"What?" Steve asked.

"I may be leaving. I'll let you know if we do," Claudia returned to typing on the laptop and grabbed the Farnsworth. Steve walked out of the office and Claudia connected. "Mr. Kosan, I am sending you a data package on our current snag and bag. Myka and Helena are down in Miami trying to identify the artifact involved. Doctor Calder is headed down there today as CDC. My concern is that there seems to be either more than one artifact at work or something else is happening. I need direct access to the victims' personal computers. They are currently in the evidence room at the local police station."

It was just a second; Mr. Kosan came back, "Your concerned about something?"

Claudia responded, "Yes, when I checked for similar cases, there appeared to be a string of attacks against pharmaceutical companies and research locations for new birth control medicines. I haven't found the exact tie, but all of these people were biochemists. While this isn't targeting us, I was wondering whether there was another group collecting artifacts for their own ends."

"Miss Donovan, there hasn't been much news on these events."

"Yes, and that's another problem. A cover-up that's possibly more overt than what we do," Claudia admitted.

"You have my okay," Mr. Kosan replied.

"I'll let Artie know." Claudia added as she was collecting her notes.

"No, I let him know we are doing an investigation."

Claudia ended with, "Thank you. I'll let you know when I get more information." The Farnsworth was closed down. She went out to the balcony and called out, "Hey, Leena and Jinksey. I am leaving. Thanks again." With that her walked out with Kato following.

Once in the car Kato turned to her, "Okay boss, what did you find?"

"The victims down at Miami had laptop computers that I need access to. The problem is that the computers are in the evidence room lockups and no one will connect them to the Internet so I can check them. We need to get down there quickly." Claudia started working with her phone.

"So, give me something. What are the threats?" Kato asked.

"There appeared to be a string of attacks against pharmaceutical companies and research locations for new birth control medicines. There could be a tie to the victims. They were biochemists. These deaths could be a part of a coordinated attack." Claudia continued to work her phone. "Okay, got a direct flight to Miami. Hotel is the same as Myka and HG. And got a rental."

When she could not get Vanessa's itinerary she decided to call Artie, "Hey."

Artie's face filled the screen, "Heard you are running an investigation."

"Right, Mr. Kosan should have given you the details," Claudia had to check.

"Yes, he did and I warned Myka and Helena. What you did want?" Artie asked.

"I wanted to check on Vanessa. Is she headed down there and on what flight?"

"Yes, she is on her way. She will be arriving at three in the afternoon," Artie answered.

"Great thanks, we'll be getting there about the same time," Claudia responded.

"We? Steve going with you?" Artie asked.

"No, Kato is with me." Claudia wondered about this. She was trying to make sure she kept the Caretaker and Agent roles separate and stayed away from Artie's job as the Agents' supervisor. It was already hard. "Okay?"

"Yes, of course. Be careful." Artie ended.

"See you," and Claudia closed the Farnsworth.

**Miami**

Myka and Helena went back to the hotel where the first victim was found. Myka went to the concierge, "Excuse me, we are with the Secret Service. Do you remember this lady as a guest here?" She handed him a picture.

He looked down at it and responded, "Oh yes. Quite a beautiful woman. She was very nice."

Helena wondered why he would remember her so well. She decided to ask a few questions too. "Did she ask you for assistance?"

"Oh, yes. She would stop by daily and ask for a restaurant recommendation," he smiled at them.

"What was the last restaurant that you suggested?" Helena followed-up.

"Oh, it's a great restaurant, the Pelican. It is down the street." He pointed which way.

"Did she ask for any other recommendations?" Myka checked.

"No, that was about it," he responded.

Myka asked, "Could we see her room?"

He stepped back at the question, "Ah, you are going to have to see the manager for that. Please follow me and I'll show you to her office."

After going through the room Myka shook her head and said, "Come on. There is nothing here. The police must have all of it. Let's try the next one."

The next hotel was about the same. The receptionist confirmed the lady had gone to the Pelican, but it was two days before the victim's death. The day before she spent at the beach sun bathing.

At the next hotel, they met the manager initially. He took them to the victim's room. They looked around the room. Again there was nothing there. Myka looked over at the manager, "So did she talk to anyone at the hotel or order any services?"

The manager had her bill in his hand, "Mostly normal. She did order a job through our business center. It was to have some papers printed and delivered to Norwest Pharmaceutical."

"That will do," Helena responded. "Can we get a copy of the paper?"

"We can go check. We generally keep a backup to ensure delivery was made." He led the way back to the business center.

When they got there, he asked the business manager about the job. Coming back from the cubical, he held out the paper. "Here it is. Even has the address."

Helena was pleased. She said thank you taking the paper from his hand. Myka smiled. When they got out, they called for Claudia.

Claudia's face was on the Farnsworth, "Hey, what do you have?"

"We have a paper on Yaz 28 and a supplement called EzT. Also the address of Norwest Pharmaceutical. Can you run them?" Myka asked.

"Right," Claudia responded.

"Ah, where are you?" Myka asked after hearing a lot of background noise.

"About 40 minutes from landing at the Miami airport," she wondered what Artie had told them.

Helena was next, "What are you doing?"

"I have to check their computers. They are all locked up at the police station," Claudia answered.

"Okay, we'll check this address and meet you there." Myka replied.

Helena chuckled, "Yes, she gave a good impression with the Inspector."

"Okay, I should have the results of this by then. See you in a few," Claudia closed the Farnsworth so she could start.

A/N Please leave a review.


	9. Chapter 9 Beach

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 9—Beach**

**Miami**

Myka and Helena were waiting at the front of the building. Claudia with Kato in trail came around the corner of the building. Claudia greeted them, "Hey guys. Thanks for meeting me here. I did see Vanessa. She had to go to the CDC field lab first. We'll call her when we get done and meet up."

"Okay, so did you find anything?" Myka asked.

"You first, please." Claudia asked. She wanted to see if anything she found made sense.

"Well, we went over to Norwest. The victim, in this case Mary Camden, was working with them on a new product. It is based on Yaz 28. It was being designed to cause an abortion if the chromosomes showed a positive sign of a brain disorder. She was down here to work on the FDA approval package. When we asked, they knew of the other biochemists, but none of them worked for their company." Myka watched Claudia as she listened. "You know something."

"Yes, there is a good chance that they were all working an FDA approval package. I need to check their computers to verify that," Claudia nodded.

"Well, this way. I'll introduce you to Inspector Meyers." Myka said.

Claudia smiled and started walking the same way Myka was. Helena cuffed her over the head. Kato shook his head and trailed them.

When they got to the Inspector's office, he got up and greeted them, "Agents Bering and Wells, have you found anything more?"

Myka smiled, "Yes, we found that at least two of them ate at the Pelican before they got sick. We have not checked on two of them and the third we could not verify. But we did find that Mary Camden was working for Norwest Pharmaceutical on some new drug for FDA approval." She turned to introduce to new participants, "This is Agent Donovan and Agent Mulinu."

Meyers was struck by how young Claudia looked. "Ah, I hate to do this but could I see some ID."

"Sure," Claudia handed him her Secret Service badge. She looked to Kato who in-turn passed his to the Inspector.

"Wow, FBI working with the Secret Service. Is this getting some kind of high visibility?" the Inspector asked.

"Oh, I am on a temporary assignment with them," Kato replied. Claudia smiled at him.

Claudia went on to ask, "I would like to see the laptops and electronic equipment these people had."

"What are you looking for?" the Inspector asked back.

"I am trying to determine if they were all working on the same thing," Claudia responded.

"You think the drug she was working on causes the plague?"

"Wow, I don't think so. But I am looking for the link and possible motive for someone to kill them," responded Claudia.

"Who would want to kill off people in pharmaceuticals?" then the Inspector thought, "Oh, like in the Fugitive?"

That was a new twist to Claudia, could someone be trying to kill off the competition? Claudia went on, "I guess. There could be a lot of money in this."

"Okay, well, come with me," the Inspector got up and took them to the evidence room.

The Inspector got Claudia set up with the equipment and showed the others to a side room. Claudia looked at the equipment and told Myka and Helena that they should have enough time to go check another hotel. A Sergeant stayed with Claudia to ensure the evidence chain could be maintained. Kato stayed and said that he would be watching Claudia to learn something. It took a while, as there were laptops, notebooks and cell phones.

The sergeant had followed every step and connection Claudia made. He'd check the file she was going to review and then make sure it was back in the same place and had not been changed.

Claudia was as patient as she could be. It was a lot longer process than she thought. She got the last files from the last computer and after verifying everything was in place with the Sergeant she closed it down.

He asked, "Are you done?"

"Yes, that's it for these. Thank you, " Claudia got up and got her bag together with her laptop. She left the room with Kato.

"Well, that took long enough." Her eyes rolled at Kato.

"So, did you get anything?" Kato asked.

"Actually quite a lot. I need to do a comparison but it looks like they were all down here to develop an approval package for one of their various companies' drugs. Let's go meet up with Vanessa and the girls." She turned and headed out of the police station.

They met at the Cabana, another popular restaurant in the area. Claudia was already at the table with her laptop out. Her head was down and she was working away at the keyboard. Kato was seated next to her.

Myka and Helena came up and were followed by Vanessa. Myka gave Vanessa a hug, "So glad you could come down." She asked a little sheepishly, "How did it go with Artie?"

Claudia looked up and they all listened intently to Vanessa, "Oh, it was a great time. We got to go to most of the places Artie remembered. Some are gone now, like his favorite drug store. But his pizza place and ice cream parlor were still there." She looked at their faces, "Yes, it was good. And no, we did not." She smiled, "Issy had us in separate bedrooms. But it was fun."

Claudia looked at Vanessa and Vanessa started to explain, "It's a variant of the Black Plague. The good thing is that it not infectious the way the old plagues were. The bad news is that it is just as deadly. Transmission could have been through a small cut in their hands. Each one had a cut on the palm of their hand. It was noticeable because there was a little sand in it."

Helena commented, "So that would appear to eliminate the Pelican restaurant theory. We should go out the beach tomorrow and see what we can find."

Claudia wasn't so sure, "I did find that they were all down here working on a submission to the FDA. They were submitting approval packages for basically the same kind of drug. The results were projected to be the same. And they were competing against each other. The submission of the approval package is due on Monday. Rather than the beach, we might be able to find out who does submit a package. We can check the companies that submit."

Helena continued to defend her idea, "But we maybe able to identify the source, before someone else gets killed."

Myka agreed, "Helena is right. If we can protect someone, we should try."

"Okay, I can call FDA again on Monday so we get a list," Claudia finished. She thought something was still off on this but could not nail it down.

The waiter came and they ordered. Claudia looked over at Kato, "Will you drive us back to the hotel?"

He laughed, "Yes, I am your designated driver."

The next morning, they agreed on a late start. They met at the hotel restaurant for breakfast on the terrace. Myka and Helena were already seated when Claudia came to the table.

Claudia had a long t-shirt on over her swimsuit. They saw Kato coming up to the table. Helena was happy with what he had, baggy swim trunks and a large unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. Myka was wearing a modest bottom and strapless top. Helena's bottom was a bit more revealing and she had a mesh top.

Helena looked over at Claudia. "You know the intent was to be under cover. Wearing a t-shirt out on the beach…"

Claudia saw Myka's expression. "Okay, I'll take it off after breakfast. You'll have to put some lotion on my back. I burn pretty fast."

Vanessa came next. She wore a sleek dark blue one-piece suit with a white lacey sun shirt on top. Helena smiled at her choice. Myka was wishing Artie was down here, but then the next vacationer persuaded her that maybe Artie in swim trunks would not… Claudia saw her looking at the man and nodded in agreement.

When they finished, they headed down to the beach. Myka smiled at Claudia and she took off the t-shirt. She was wearing a string bikini. She looked at Myka, "No pictures right? I'd hate to find Pete with…"

"Right, no problem," Myka agreed.

The beach was perfect with hardly any wind and a nice cloudless day. They laid their beach towels in a row. Kato was next to Claudia, then Helena, Myka and Vanessa. Claudia turned to Helena, "So what are we going to do?"

"Just take in the sun and watch for a while. There must be someone that is on the beach with the artifact," Helena concluded.

"And why does that have to be?" Claudia wondered aloud.

"For all five people to get a cut and have sand in it, the best explanation seems to be a beach location. And someone must have approached the victims on the beach, because getting cut from the same stationary object seems too remote. The person would have to be a part of the normal crowd. Someone else may cause too much attention. Now they obviously knew the targets but with them at different hotels, the killer would need to be mobile with something that would fit in." She continued looking, "We just need to find out what it is."

Claudia knew it was as simple as that. They started their surveillance. The girls in-turn got stares from teenage boys to men older than Artie as the guys walked the beach. There were a couple of pushcarts that went along the beach. The first was selling popsicles. The next was selling cold drinks in paper cups from a fountain.

After a while Myka and Claudia headed to the water to cool off a little. Kato watched from the shore. Helena spotted something she thought might be unusual. A cart was being pushed down the beach with Chinese food for sale. The thing that caught her eye was that three of the Chinese characters were backwards. She got Myka's attention.

Myka came back to the towels, "What?"

"The Chinese cart, we need to check it out." Helena pointed toward the cart.

Claudia came up and overheard what Helena said. She looked at Kato, "Go with them. You're the only one with a hidden weapon."

Vanessa looked up at them, "Remember, you are looking for something sharp. Could be some little metal or glass that sticks out on the cart."

Myka nodded and they headed toward the cart. They were talking about what to get as they approached the cart. Myka looked over the menu once more.

Helena smiled at the young man that was pushing the cart. He looked like a college kid out to make an extra dollar on the weekend. He wore a Gators t-shirt, baggy swim trunks like Kato's, and flip-flops. Helena continued to smile and said, "Nice day. Are you getting many people to buy your food?"

"Yeah, there have been a few. It's better than last weekend. It was too cloudy then, not as many people on the beach," the young man replied.

"So, you only come out on weekends?" Myka asked.

"Yeah, Mr. Hung brought it out last week," he shrugged wishing that they would order so he could go on.

Helena got closer to him, "So, I've always been interested in how things are done. How do you keep the food warm? Or do you heated in up as you go?"

More than willing to impress Helena, he opened the side of the cart, "I am Danny by the way. We keep a small propane tank…"

Helena saw it first. There was an old bowl at the bottom of the cart. Myka was right behind. Helena said, "Danny, please move away from the cart."

Myka motioned to Kato. He came at a trot. Claudia was watching and got her mini-Tesla from her beach bag. She swung the bag over her shoulder and ran up to the cart with her Tesla out.

Myka looked at Claudia's bag, "Do you have a bag and gloves?"

Claudia got them out and handed the bag to Myka. She was not going to take a risk of Helena or Myka getting hurt. She gave the gun to Helena and put the gloves on. She reached down for the bowl.

Myka reminded her, "Watch for a sharp edge."

"Right," she picked up the bowl and put it in the bag. She was glad they stood back. The sparks coming from the bag lasted longer than normal.

Danny watched the proceedings, "What was that?"

Claudia reached into her bag and brought out the pictures of the victims. "Ever see these people?"

Danny watched her flash the pictures in front of his face, "What? No. What is going on?"

Claudia realized Myka and Helena had no way of producing an ID. She got out her badge, "We are federal agents."

Myka continued, "Okay, Danny, where is Mr. Hung?"

Kato was already on the phone with the Inspector.

A/N Please leave a review.


	10. Chapter 10 Fever

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 10—Fever**

**Somewhere over Florida**

Claudia had just closed her laptop. Myka and Helena were sitting beside her. Kato was behind them. They had another charter flight and no one else was with them. Vanessa had taken a flight back to CDC in Atlanta.

Myka noticed Claudia's frown. She asked, "Something wrong?"

"Other than we could not find Mr. Hung?" She looked at Myka, "Yes, I checked with the FDA office this morning. There was no 'call' for approval packages." She put quotation marks around 'call' as she said it. "So, it was a set up. And we don't know who was behind it."

Helena shook her head, "Sounds like what happened to us once."

Claudia smiled, "You didn't finish the last story from last time. Can you finish that and tell us about this other Curiosity?"

Myka smiled in agreement.

Helena thought back, "Righty then, let see last we left the story I switched the bracelets, put my gloves back on, fastened the Helen of Troy's bracelet to my wrist and put the ribbon back on. I was about to turn and leave when the thief asked, 'Pardon me, could you help me fasten the dress in the back?'

"I said, 'It will just be a second. I have to remove my gloves.' As soon as I removed the glove on my arm with the bracelet, I thought I saw my reflection in the mirror with a glimmer in my eye. I knew at that point it was the artifact. I remembered what Caturanga had said about the artifact being voice activated and did not say another thing. I finished wrapping the ribbon around the bracelet. After I buttoned her dress, I patted her shoulder and left." She looked at the astonished looks of Myka and Claudia. "What? What were you thinking?" Her eyes got big and she exclaimed, "I should think that would be something Pete would wonder."

Both heads pointed down as they looked at the floor.

"But you see the good thing that night was the ribbon. Bobby saw me come out of the facilities and head toward the museum front door. He quickly followed and asked what was happening. I pointed to the bracelet. After going round and round without saying a thing, I told him, 'I have Helen's bracelet. We need to get back to the Warehouse.' Bobby did not react like the others had to the thief and the bracelet. He did not have that dazed look. He seemed normal as we argued about which roads were the fastest way back to the Warehouse.

"Carturanga was at the Warehouse offices when we came in. He smiled as he saw me come in. I pointed to my wrist and he got out the bucket."

Claudia looked up at Helena, "Bucket."

Helena answered, "Right, we did not have your wonderful Mylar electrostatic bags back then. We used a rubber bucket. The amazing thing was the ribbon I used was not conductive either. The artifact touched my skin when I first took the glove off. But when I wrapped the ribbon around it, it no longer had any affect over me.

"Caturanga was ecstatic. He was almost dancing around his office. Within a week, he had perfected our first set of gloves for handling artifacts. They were made from the material of the ribbon." Helena smiled at the thought.

Helena continued, "The next events were similar to what we just experienced. And as you'll see there was someone behind these events.

"About a week later we got our next Curiosity. Mr. Crowley again received the notice through the pneumatic tube. He read the notice and came over to Agent MacShane's station. He handed him the paper and said, 'Since you're seem to be finding them quickly, you should take this one. It involves the Royal Navy. We will try, in other words you will try, to be as cooperative as possible. One of their ships the HMS Warspite, has returned from the North Sea with an outbreak of Yellow Fever. Half of the men have died and the rest are inflected.' He cocked his head at us, 'Yes, the North Sea and Yellow Fever. The ship had not made any stops where the disease was prevalent. This should be an easy one, but try not to get infected.'

"Bobby asked, 'You know what we are looking for?'

"Mr. Crowley was as nice as ever. 'Yes, something that causes Yellow Fever.'

"I had previously told Caturanga that we would play chess that afternoon. By then he had beaten me the last five times. Bobby stayed at his station to collect the armaments he wanted for the job. He still believed in shooting anything that look threatening.

"I knocked on the door frame at Carturanga's office. He was sitting at one of his workbenches. Without looking up he said, 'Miss Wells, a bit early, that must mean you've been given the HMS Warspite Curiosity.' He pointed to the seat next to him.

"After opening a paper next to his workbench, he looked over at me and said, 'There is a reason this was flagged as a Curiosity. A report by Carlos Finlay proposed that mosquitoes transmit the disease. Now while there are mosquitoes in England and countries around the North Sea, it is still hard to imagine that they would be in numbers sufficient to infect an entire crew out in the North Sea. One would think there is an artifact making mosquitoes or someone has an artifact in their possession that causes this.'

"I added, 'And they would have to be a person that would see the entire crew.'

"He smiled, 'Yes, quite so. Very good. So, your persons of interest then would include?'

"I thought for a second, 'The Captain and his first officer, then any of the medical people should have access to the entire crew.' I was beaming thinking this would be easy. We would go to the ships and interrogate those people.

"Carturanga smiled, 'Look deeper when you get there. The people who routinely support the ship's crew could have that access too. And since we are talking about an artifact, it could be something that the crew passes or touches on a routine basis. Do not assume that what seems easy on the surface, is so. I think you will find most of our ventures are rarely easy.'" Helena watched as Claudia and Myka nodded in agreement.

"Our first stop was to the offices of the base commander at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth. The commander was Commodore Eric Nielsen. He had just been meeting with the head surgeon and an agent from the Foreign Secretary's office. Bobby presented our papers to the Chief Petty Officer at the office. Caturanga had arranged for us to be agents of the Home Secretary." Helena paused and thought for a second.

She explained, "While we introduced ourselves as Inspectors before, an Inspector from even Scotland Yard would have had no jurisdiction over a ship in a Royal Navy port. The offices of the Home Secretary would have been on par to your Secret Service at that time. In this case it was novel enough to get us in the door to the Commodore.

"The Commodore began the meeting with a question. He asked, 'And what does the Home Secretary have for a concern today?'

"Booby answered, 'We wish to board the HMS Warspite.'

"The Commodore looked us like we were a bit crazy at that point, saying, 'You realize the ship is a plague ship. No one is permitted off the ship. And of those we have sent aboard, one has died and three others are down with the fever. This is no day for a tour or a visit.'

"I smiled at him and answered, 'Yes, I know. But we have been asked to find the cause and eliminate it. I am sure you had other needs for the Warspite. Perhaps, something suggested by the Foreign Minsters office.' I know I was just postulating. But just as Claudia did down in Florida I was looking for some connection.

"He responded to my surprise with, 'Yes, the Admiralty had expected to use the ship and others to show the flag to some forgetful people in Portugal.'

"I was happy at that point that we read so many newspapers and articles from the times. I had seen that we were not pleased by recent actions by Portugal near our interests in Africa. I followed up with another question, 'Has the ship been in port at Portugal?'

"The Commodore shook his head, 'No, they just came back from the North Sea. A reminder to our German friends that we have a navy.' He looked at us for a while, 'Just what are you expecting to find?'

"I answered, 'As to the exact thing or object, I can not tell you at this time. But we believe there must be something on board that is bringing these men down. We need the opportunity to talk with the men and look around the ship.'

The Commodore turned to Bobby, "I don't suppose I will be able to dissuade you from this endeavor."

"I did like Bobby's reply. He said, 'No, I am afraid that anything short of full compliance, results in a message from the PM to the Admiralty.'

Helena watched as Claudia made a note. Myka's attention went to Claudia too. When Claudia noticed, she shrugged, "Sorry, I thought I would ask later. It should be something I know. But then, I bet you did not really work for the PM or the Queen back then."

Helena nodded, "Correct, I found out much later that our Regents and the lead Regent were it. The Regents did have specific individuals in key counties that knew of what we did. And in general they were senior enough that we could get things arranged as necessary." Helena smiled at the last part.

"Now, back to the story. We were in a small boat headed out to the Warspite. I was buddled up in a blanket sitting on the side rail watching the Captain guide his boat. It was a small thing. While twice the size of a rowboat, it was still tossed in the seas. We had run up along side the Warspite and someone lowered a rope ladder to us.

"The Captain of the small boat came to me one last time, 'You sure you need to do this?'

"I looked at his eyes and replied, 'There are men being killed up there. I think we can stop it. What else should we do?' I put on a bush hat with the mesh around it. We were dressed to make sure no skin was showing.

"The Captain nodded at me and helped me up the ladder. When we got to the top, we looked around but did not see anyone. We never did find who lowered the rope. I stood there trying to get adjusted to the rolling of the ship. The waves were not lapping the sides of the ship like they were in that little boat but we were rocking and there was a little mist that blew on us as we stood there.

"Bobby pointed to one of the hatches. We entered and I noticed the smell. It was horrid. I must say that if a sickness had a smell, this one did. It was worse than an egg left too long. But I did notice there was little movement in the air and only opening the hatch back up allowed for some air to come in.

"We walked up to the bridge and looked around. The First Lieutenant was on duty. He did not look well. He did have a yellow cast in his skin and especially the face. No one else was on duty.

"There was no sound. And yes, there were no mosquitoes. Even though Caturanga promised that the netting would work, I was ready at any point to start swatting them away.

"The Lieutenant looked at us suspiciously. Bobby began, 'Good day sir, we are here to determine what is causing the sickness. We are from the Home Secretary offices.'

"The Lieutenant was still cautious. He said, 'You came to a plague ship. We cannot provide you any assistance. By tomorrow you'll be no different than me, sick as a dog. Is this what you want? Did you superiors send you because of some grievance against you? The three that came a day ago are now dead. Is that what you want?'

"He convulsed at that point and fell to the floor. Bobby went to him and checked. He could not revive him. The man was unconscious. At that point we decided to look for others to help. We went out the back and down the ladder to the main deck. After going through the passageway, we found the Captain's quarters. We looked in through the hatch and found his quarters were empty.

"We finally found the mess. It was packed with men lying on the tables and on the floor. A man in a bloodied white outfit was moving between the men.

"While Bobby went to the man, I looked around. There were sounds of the men groaning in their misery. And there were no mosquitoes.

"Bobby asked the man, 'Are you the ship's doctor?'

"He turned, looking as yellow as the First Lieutenant. He replied by pointing, 'That's the doctor and next to him is the Captain. Both have extremely high fevers. I don't know how much longer they will… Well, you can take a look at them.' Then after looking at Bobby and I, he finally asked, 'Who are you and what are you doing here?'

"Bobby replied, 'We were sent by the Home Secretary. We just met with your First Lieutenant. He is unconscious. We could not revive him.'

"The man slumped at the information and said, 'Well, I'll get him.'

"I walked to the doctor and Bobby went to the Captain. I was not certain what we would find. The doctor was sweating profusely and mumbling. I bent close to him. He reached up and pulled his shirt back, and the mumble became louder, 'Morte aos nossos inimigo! Deixe o Segundo...'

_A/N Please leave a review. And have a Happy Thanksgiving. Intend to post the next chapter on 29 Nov._

Caturanga's History Lessons

HMS Warspite a cruiser commissioned in 1886, imagined as a part of the fleet to block the Portuguese (See Wikipedia).

Carlos Finlay recognized a pioneer in Yellow Fever research (see Wikipedia).

HMNB Portsmouth in operation in 1889 (see Wikipedia).

Foreign and Home Secretaries (see Wikipedia).

British and Portugal were heading toward a conflict in 1889. A Portugesse explorer/scientist had begun an expedition in the Shire Regions of Africa near Transvaal and Mozambique. Eventually two squadrons from the British navy responded in a show-of-strength. (See Google, Onwar)

Use Google translator for Portuguese, should be, 'Death to our enemies! Let the second…'


	11. Chapter 11 Mosquitoes

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 11-Mosquitoes**

**Somewhere over the Midwest**

Helena looked at Claudia and Myka. She had their attention, "The doctor did not have a risqué tattoo, but the medal he was wearing around his neck was at least a definite artifact. I saw the inscription briefly. It was a medal of heroism for the Battle of Hohenlinden, a battle of the French Revolution in 1800. I reached down and turned it over. The back was inscribed with, 'Pour Charles Leclerc, mon ami confiance et de son frere' meaning 'To Charles Leclerc, my trusted friend and brother.'

"Charles was the brother-in-law of Napoleon. I remembered his demise being caused by Yellow Fever. He and his army succumbed to the disease. As I turned the medal, I saw two mosquitoes being released from it. It was almost as if they came from the inscription itself.

"I swatted at both. I got out a knife from my bag and cut the medal from his neck. Then I put it in the little rubber bucket that I had carried along. The sparks were quiet a show. The doctor passed at that moment.

"I looked over at Bobby. He had seen the light show. He commented, 'That must have been it.'

"I shook my head, 'I'm not sure. I think there is more. He spoke in Portuguese; saying, 'Death to our enemies. Let the second…'

"Bobby nodded, 'Let's check him and his office. Maybe there is more.'

"We found the man that was nursing the people in the mess. He had retrieved the Lieutenant. He looked noticeably better. Bobby asked him for directions to the doctor's berth and sickbay. We went through everything. We found his log, his personal notes and curiously a codebook. I commented that it would have been more likely to find a code book with the Captain or the First Lieutenant, but the doctor seemed a little off. Finally, we found a bundle of numbered pages. We took all of those items with us.

"When we returned to the mess, it appeared as though most of the men were making a recovery. Bobby went on deck to signal that we were ready for pickup. I went back to the doctor. I checked the doctor one last time. He did have a crumbled paper in his pocket. I took that.

"We left the Naval Base after telling the Commodore that we had what we thought was the cause of the fever with us and would lock it away. We relayed our observation that most men of the ship seemed to be recovering.

"It seemed like a long trip back to the Warehouse. When we walked into the office Mr. Crowley was there. Bobby held up the bucket, 'We got it. Helena identified it as the medal of Napoleon's brother-in-law. The fellow was struck with Yellow Fever along with his army. The medal is a nasty little thing. It generates a mosquito carrying the disease. The doctor had the medal and was Portuguese. The Commodore will notify the Admiralty that Portugal may have been behind this.'

"Caturanga came in at that point and notice my satchel with the log, notes, code and papers. He asked, 'What have you got there, Miss Wells?'

"I showed him each of the items and explained what the doctor had said. I commented that the pages with the numbers looked used and had seemed a bit odd. He gathered up the items and asked me to join him. He walked out of the room. I nodded to Bobby and Crowley and followed.

"He spread the papers out on one of his workstations. And he began saying, 'You are correct in your assessment. The papers are used. We just need to experiment a bit to find which solution to use in order to bring out the ink that was used. First, we'll try a bit of light and heat.' He held one of the papers next to a light bulb.

"At the time the Warehouse was still equipped with gas lighting. Caturanga was experimenting with the current version of the Ediswan light. He was trying to find a way to improve its life.

"So, holding the paper to the light bulb did show a slight change. Caturanga smiled, 'Well a little sophisticated. Let's try a simple acid solution, that may bring the ink out further.' He dipped a brush into a vial of liquid and brushed the corner of the paper. Then holding it up to the light the letters became clear. He smiled, "Oh good that worked.' He turned to the desk in the corner, 'Please get a paper over there and copy down what these papers have on them. Then if we need, we'll use the code book to find what they said.'

"Well, we spent the rest of the day coping the papers and the next day deciphering the contents. It took several tries with the codebook before we found the right beginning. The codes were based on the number of the page and the first two letters of the message. Then decoding the messages took most of the day.

"We found a wealth of information on the plans of the Portuguese. They were planning on taking over an area around the Makololo country and Shire region of Africa near Lake Nyasa. The doctor was sent a device of 'great power' and told to wear it while he treated the crew. There was a reference to another individual, named Albrecht von Friedrich. It indicated that he believed there were more objects with unusual powers that could be used to ensure 'a pace in the sun.'

"From that point our efforts were focused on Albrecht. That's when I found that Caturanga was more of a commanding general. He sent out messages to the Regents to identify and locate this individual. Mr. Crowley was happy to have Bobby and I read through every article we could find that could be related to Albrecht.

"After one entertaining week of articles I was happy to accompany my brother to a dinner party. Christina was with my sister and everything seemed in order. The other guests included play writes, writers and a few poets. It was an eloquent banquet at the Langham Hotel." She smiled at the memory, "As usual most everyone thought my brother was the writer. Most of the queries that night were about a story we did the previous year. It was my first thoughts of time travel, but that was before I knew how to make it happen."

Claudia and Myka nodded their understanding. Claudia also had a brief flash of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge that Fargo had her put in the Warehouse. She still wondered what it would do and whether the results would be the same as Helena's time machine.

"I met the most excellent gentlemen that night. One would become a good friend, Mr. Doyle, and one would be rather elusive over the years, Mr. Wilde. I must say he was quite dashing." She looked at Claudia who was smiling. "Yes, he was the one that I did not charm.

"Charles had introduced me as his idea person and co-writer. And I must say that I was thankful that he did. It seemed to open a path to the discussions with Mr. Doyle. I told him that I was also an inventor and a bit of a mystery solver. I believe over time Mr. Doyle came to know most of my exploits.

"That evening, I explained to Mr. Doyle the circumstances surrounding the HMS Warspite and the papers we collected. I also told him we were seeking an Albrecht von Friedrich. He smiled at me and said, 'If the name was in a coded message, it would be entirely possible you have a coded named. You might check the coding again and see if here is some unusual marker when a name is used. It would well be out of order or indicate a missing phrase or letters. The most obvious combination would put the name as derivation of Wilhelm II. As you are probably aware, the Queen does not seem that please with some of his actions and he in turn is not as enamored as others with Bismarck. That would certainly imply a bigger game is at foot than you probably were expecting.'"

Helena was interrupted by the Co-Pilot shouting back into the cabin that there was an emergency and they had lost power.

A/N Please leave a review.

Caturanga's History Lesson

Ediswan was the Edison and Swan United Electric Light Company (See Joseph Swan Wikipedia).

Okay a little imagining; Arthur Conan Doyle met Oscar Wilde at a Langham Hotel dinner party in 1889. (see Smithsonian, Sherlock Holmes London)

Langham Hotel (see Google, offers an interesting Sherlock Holmes Package)

Wilhelm II (see Wikipedia)


	12. Chapter 12 Coverage

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 12-Coverage**

**Warehouse 13**

"Artie, we got alarms going off everywhere. What is this?" Steve held the Farnsworth out to show Artie the sirens and flashing lights.

Artie was mumbling, "Not good, not good." When Steve got the Farnsworth pointed back to his and Leena's face, Artie said, "Go up to the office and show me what the main screen has on it."

Steve and Leena ran up to the office. They saw the various flights and ground traces of the flights for the day. Leena was the first to speak, "Artie, it has all the flight information on it. It shows you on the ground at Chicago, Pete in the air heading for Denver and then a circle around the charter flight that the girls have. Oh no."

Steve added, "Artie, the bottom trailer says charter flight signal was lost a couple minutes ago and then gives the coordinates. The flight path stops near Kansas City. What do you want us to do?"

Artie shook his head, "Well, first stop the siren. Click the alarm button at the bottom of the screen. I'll try to get Myka on her Farnsworth. You try Claudia on her cell. Leena check the emergency list and call FAA. Call me back with the results. I have thirty minutes before my flight."

Steve was almost trembling when he made the call. Listening for the ring he was saying, "This can't happen." He got her recording and kept trying.

Leena got through to FAA and was unhappy when she got the answer. The controllers had lost contact with the plane and radar lost contact at about the same coordinates as their display. The official said they had notified the emergency services in the area and the State Highway Patrol. Leena gave him a number to call when he got more information. She turned to Steve and shook her head.

Artie called back on the Farnsworth, "I am not getting through on the Farnsworth to any of them. It rings but no answer. What did you find?"

Leena answered, "Steve gets Claudia's voice mail. FAA lost contact with the plane at about the same location we have on our screen. They have contacted the local emergency services and Highway Patrol, but no word back yet."

"Okay, I'll change my flight to Kansas City. There is one that leaves in 45 minutes. When Pete lands, call him and let him know. We'll change plans when we know more." Artie closed his Farnsworth.

**Near Kansas City**

Claudia felt like she was standing on her head. She was squeezed against the bulkhead. She started to move and it hurt almost everywhere. Her left arm hurt the most, although she thought the bump on her head was growing and she was sure that was going to be bad. She got twisted around so that her feet and knees were on the floor of the plane. She looked around and saw Helena, Myka and Kato smashed into each other and the bulkhead. "Anyone here!" There was no answer.

Claudia crawled over to the three. She was praying as she checked their necks for a pulse. They were all alive but none were moving. Her attention went first to Myka. She had a pretty bad gash to the head and there was still a little blood coming out. She looked around and found a scarf that Helena had worn. Finding a napkin on the floor, she put that on the wound and wrapped Myka's head with the scarf. As she tied it off, she cried out, "That hurts!" Her left arm was really in pain. Claudia got Myka out to the aisle by pulling and tugging.

Next was Helena. She looked her over and saw no blood, which was encouraging. Her leg looked twisted but she wasn't sure if anything was wrong. Claudia struggled to get the seat off of Helena and then pulled her to the aisle.

Kato was another problem entirely. There was no room left in the aisle. All she was able to do was check him for blood and get the seat off of him. She set him up as best she could.

Next was a bit harder. She went to the front of the cabin and looked in on the pilot and co-pilot. She saw blood all over the floor and control panels. She shook her head at the scene knowing there was no way she could pull them out as the cockpit looked like it had crumbled in on itself.

She turned and went to the exit. After reading the instructions, she pulled down hard on the bar. She was thankful it opened. But when she got a whiff of the air outside the cabin, she started scrabbling. Myka was the closet to the exit. She grabbed her under the arms and started pulling. She was working her legs as hard as she could, "Come on, come on. Faster, faster." She got to the exit and scrambled out of the plane and then pulled Myka out. She had seen Pete do it and it seemed a lot easier when he did it. She got Myka in a fireman's carry and ran out away from the plane about 100 yards. Putting Myka down, she took a couple breaths and ran back to the plane.

The smell from the gas was not any better. She went into the plane and got Helena. Pulling faster this time she got Helena to the exit. When she turned to get her she saw a blinking light coming from the galley. She wondered about that but concentrated on Helena pulling her out of the plane. Claudia used the fireman's carry on Helena and got her next to Myka. Tears were pouring from her eyes as the pain in her arm was growing.

Claudia went as fast as she could back to the plane. She pulled, pushed and yanked Kato to the exit. It seemed like forever but she finally got him half out the door. Grunting she tried as hard as she could to get him over her shoulder and stood up. It was not close to running. It was more like a slow walk. She was afraid of dropping him. She knew she would never be able to get him back up on her shoulders.

Myka struggled as she wiped her eyes and started to sit up. She looked over next to her and saw Helena lying beside her. She smiled and checked her. She was unconscious with a bruising on her leg and it looked a little twisted. She looked around and saw the plane not too far from them. Initially she saw the figure of someone with another person over the shoulder. She smiled thinking that a rescue team had gotten to them and was getting someone out of the plane.

Myka was surprised when her sight cleared a little and it became obvious that it was Claudia with Kato over her shoulder. Then it happened, a spark ignited the gas and there was a huge explosion. It back lit Claudia and blew passed her. An intensive wave of heat and sound rolled over Myka. Myka screamed out, "No o o o…"

Claudia was thrown along with Kato to the ground. She was able to push Kato off of her and rolled quickly to put out what she thought was a fire on her jacket. Then she went to Kato and began to stamp out embers still burning on his clothes. She noticed some bleeding where his clothes had been cut but rather than treating it she thought it was better to pull him away from the plane.

Claudia had just started pulling when her phone and Farnsworth started ringing. She looked at the phone and saw it was Steve. She answered that first, "Hey, little busy. What's up?"

Steve yelled at her, "Claudia!" He was elated that she finally answered, "I am so glad." He paused and then asked, "What happened?"

Claudia smiled at him, "Let see, we cashed, the plane blew up, and I don't know where…wait. Are you at the Warehouse?"

"Yeah, what do you need?"

"Use the locator on the left bottom of the screen. Click it and it should give you everyone's location. Use that to send help. We're in pretty bad shape." She swallowed, "I got Myka, Helena and Kato here out of the plane. The pilot and co-pilot did not make it. Someone is calling on the Farnsworth. Let me get that."

Claudia pulled up the Farnsworth and opened it. She was expecting Artie but it was Mr. Kosan. He asked, "Miss Donovan. What happened? Are you okay?"

"Hi, the plane crashed. It might have been deliberate. The power went out and I saw what could have been an artifact in the galley. It had a light that was blinking and there was no other power around. The plane blew up, so I don't know how much will be left to check.

"I got Myka, Helena and Kato out of the plane. We are in bad shape. The three of them were unconscious and I don't know where all they might be injured. The pilot and co-pilot did not make it. Steve has our coordinates and should be sending an emergency team. I don't…"

"Claudia, you did fine. I'll make sure the emergency team gets to you. I'll have one of the Regents work with the NTSB for the artifact. How are you?"

Claudia thought about it, "I'm sure I have a broken arm and then bumps and cuts all over. Okay, I hear some sirens. We'll be fine. Oh wait; if someone was after us, they might be after Vanessa. Can you get some guards around her."

Mr. Kosan smiled; she was a good choice. "Okay, she'll get a detail to protect her and I'll get back with you." Mr. Kosan ended the call.

Myka was amazed at the scene. She had seen Claudia and Kato get blown forward and thought that was the end. Her Farnsworth woke her from her thoughts. She opened it and looked down to see Pete.

Pete's face was close to his Farnsworth like he was trying to see everything around Myka. He asked hurriedly, "Myka, are you okay?"

"Been better. Wait," she said as she watched Claudia roll over and then swat at Kato. "They made it!"

"Who made it? Myka, are you okay?" Pete looked like he was getting closer to his Farnsworth.

"Helena is here with me and Claudia has Kato. They made it out before the plane exploded." She paused trying to think of what happened.

"The plane exploded?"

"Yes. You should have seen her, Pete. Claudia was carrying Kato. The plane exploded and they were thrown forward. Claudia is up now. I guess she is okay. She must have gotten us out. There is no one else around." She held out the Farnsworth so Pete could see what was happening.

"Myka, Myka, so how are you?"

"I've got a really bad headache." She reached up and felt the area. "Someone, probably Claudia, has put a bandage around my head. The left side feels damp. Yeah, that's blood."

"Okay, I am coming down there. Just lay back and take it easy." Pete waited until he saw the ground behind Myka and then hung up.

Claudia went back to the cell phone, "Hey Jinksey, the fire department trucks just pulled up. Wow, looks like a whole convoy. I'll give you a call back."

A/N Please leave a review.


	13. Chapter 13 Released

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 13—Released**

**Hospital outside of Kansas City**

Claudia started to stir. She remembered the flashing lights and yelling. Two EMTs came to her and Kato. They check them and one went back to get a stretcher for Kato. It took four of them to carry him away. Claudia walked to the ambulances with one of the EMTs supporting her. She saw them bring in Helena and Myka on stretchers too. She went to Myka and noticed that she was awake. They gave each other a hug and then the EMTs intervened. They started working on Myka's cut and took her into one of the bigger vans. When they got to the hospital Claudia was asleep.

She tried opening her eyes. They were a bit crushed over. Once she took care of that she started to sit up in her bed. She looked at her arm. She now had a splint on her arm and wrist. She looked over at the person next to her, "What are you doing here?"

Vanessa smiled, "You're here." She was happy to be here, especially after the stories she heard about her charge.

Claudia remembered the discussion with the good Doctor Calder. One of her jobs was to provide medical support to the Caretaker. Claudia smiled and nodded. "How are the others?"

"First, all of you sustained severe blows to the head and had varying degrees of a concussion. You had swelling, which has gone down, and now have a bruise in the area of the injury," she pointed to Claudia's head. "Myka's was likely the worse. She had a scalp wound that was deep and she lost a lot of blood. Helena has a fractured Fibula." She nodded, "The smaller bone in the leg. And she has swelling in the ankle, which was probably twisted. We'll evaluate that again later. Finally Kato is doing fine. He has no broken bones. He did sustain a few burns and lacerations from the explosion.

"You sustained several lacerations on your back and legs too. They are fairly small but some were deep. You'll have to watch as they heal. If you notice any infection, call me right away. Finally, you had some burns on your right hand. It is bandaged now. You should be able to take that off tomorrow. Again, just keep it clean." She stood up and went to the door. "Oh, Leena sent you some clothes. They are in the bag. You can get dressed. We have one more x-ray to do and then you can go. The others will be ready about the same time. And Artie, Steve and Pete are here." She smiled and went out the door.

Claudia was just starting to swing her legs out of the bed and the door opened. "Hey guys!" She quickly covered up.

Steve was first, "Our hero."

Pete went along with it, "Yes, our hero."

Artie nodded, "You did good, kiddo."

Claudia was blushing. "Thank you. You know anyone of us would have done that."

Pete smiled, "Yeah, right. I'm not sure I could just pickup Kato and walk off. But you, you did it."

"How are the others?" Claudia looked at Artie.

"They're still asleep," Artie responded.

Vanessa stepped back in, "Yes, sorry I should have said. We wanted all of you to get some extra sleep. You were the first to wake up. But we are ready for that x-ray. Let me get everyone out and you can put on that robe. The nurse will bring you a wheel chair." She saw the look Claudia gave her, "Hospital rules to take you down there. When you get back, change clothes and we can wait for the others."

A little while later Claudia was being wheeled back to her room. She saw the guys waiting for her. "Hey, give me a minute while I put my clothes on," she smiled as she went by.

Claudia found it was a little harder to get her clothes on while not using her left arm. Splint or not, it still hurt. Even pulling up her blue jeans was a chore. She put on a t-shirt and then a jacket that was in the bag. The sleeve just fit over the splint and she was happy about that. She finally got dressed and her bags together.

She opened the door to a cheer. Myka, Helena and Kato were waiting with the others for her to come out. Each of them gave her a hug.

Myka gave her a squeeze and she wasn't sure she was going to breath. Myka whispered in her ear, "Don't do that again. I just can't…not ready."

Claudia held her back, "It's okay. We're together."

Helena hugged her and said, "Glad you're okay."

Kato was last saying, "I'm supposed to protect you. Thank you for saving us. You were great. You're going to have to show me your workout regime." He smiled at her.

Claudia smiled, "I'm just glad we all made it."

Myka had a big smile, "Well, it was all because of you."

Artie even smiled at her, "Nice."

Claudia looked at the others, "So, are we ready to leave?"

Vanessa spoke up, "Yes, everyone is checked out."

Myka nodded, "Let's go." She smiled at Pete, "I know a good rib place."

"Wow, my stomach is a grumbling. Let's go." Pete reached for Myka's hand.

"Wait, they still have to go out the door in a wheel chair," Vanessa held up her hand. In a minute the nurses brought the wheel chairs and they were ready to go.

While still in the wheelchairs, they were met at the exit by a rather large contingent of men in dark suits. One stepped forward, "I'm Sam Davis, the Senior Agent for Kansas City. We were asked to provide support while you are here. There is a special flight for you available at the airport."

Everyone turned to Myka. She looked a little surprised, "Oh, I had just suggested going to lunch at a barbeque place. But nice to meet you, I am Myka Bering, Secret Service." She held out her hand.

Davis smiled not knowing what they did exactly but knowing that they all had covers. He turned next to Artie to shake hands, "And sir?"

Artie grumbled a bit, "Artie Neilsen." He shook Davis' hand and then pointed to Claudia, "Miss Donovan, what would you like to do?"

Claudia smiled at Artie and nodded to Pete, "I am hungry too. And Barbeque sounds great. Myka, where did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I was thinking of Bryant's. Is that alright?"

"Yes, we can get you there." Davis acknowledged. He looked at Kato who was still in the wheelchair. "You must be Agent Mulinu. Due to your injuries, Agent Johns will be taking your place."

Claudia started shaking her head, "No, no. I didn't pull his butt out of the fire just to let him go. He stays. If you think," she paused, she was not sure what they knew or had been told about who to support with protection, "We need additional support, please assign what agents you think are necessary. But he stays." She looked over at Kato. He smiled and nodded.

Davis was taken back a bit but nodded. "I'll relay the request."

Claudia smiled.

Pete was ready to eat and said, "Okay, that's settled. Let's go eat."

Claudia got out her phone and began a text message while they waited for the vans to pull up. She smiled at the answer. When she got in the van, Kato got in with her. She smiled at him, "Hope you agreed. I just got the okay to make it permanent."

"That's fine with me," Kato replied.

**The B&B**

The flight back went smooth. The girls slept most of the way. Pete, based on Myka's story, gave Kato a better description of what happened at the crash.

Helena heard Pete tell it between dozing. When she found Claudia in the dinning room working at her laptop, she went over on her crutches and sat down beside Claudia. Claudia looked up at her. Helena started, "I wanted you to know that no one has ever done that for me." She saw Claudia's questioning look, "Well, I mean run back into harms way and save me from blowing up."

Claudia smiled at her, "Yeah, well seems like you saved me from burning up once too."

Helena shook her head, "Yes dear, but that was not the same as you risking your life to save me."

Claudia smiled. She knew Helena had no memory of it now, "But you, or your other you, gave her life for Myka, Pete and Artie."

"Quite, but I do sincerely thank you," Helena put her hand on Claudia's.

"Your welcome," Claudia smiled at her. She looked down at her laptop and then back at Helena, "Say, what did happen with Albrecht von Friedrich?"

"Well, the short version is that it was Friedrich Albrecht of Prussia, also known as…" Helena paused as she saw Myka walk up.

A/N Please leave a review.


	14. Chapter 14 Fall Day

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

Reminder-Warehouse 13 Christmas Special is on December 6th (today)…Check your listings.

**Chapter 14—Fall Day**

**The B&B**

Claudia and Helena were at the dinner table. Helena was just about to explain whom Albrecht von Friedrich was when Myka walked up. She shrugged, "Then back to the full story. Mr. Doyle suggested that the man in the decoded messages was Friedrich Albrecht of Prussia, also known as Wilhelm II, the German Emperor and King of Prussia. To say I was surprised was an understatement. I went to work the next day. I talked to Mr. Crowley first and he dismissed the idea as that of a crazy fiction writer."

"That afternoon I was playing chess again with Caturanga. I brought up the party from the night before and told him I met Mr. Doyle and Mr. Wilde. I explained what Mr. Doyle had for an idea.

"Caturanga smiled. He said, 'We have not made much progress with the name we have. Thank you for mentioning it. Now let us see if what Mr. Doyle suggested has any merit. We need the marker first. The Albrecht's name was used three times in the messages. We can compare it to the name of the doctor and see if there is a difference.'

"We went to his workbench where the notes were scattered over the table. He picked out three pages and then another six. Putting them before me he asked, 'So Miss Wells, do you see any anomaly in the presentation of the names?'

"I was surprised. It was so obvious once we looked for it. The doctor's name was in the correct order except once when it was in a list. There the name had an extra comma before it and was in an inverse order with the middle name at the end. When I looked at Albrecht's name, they all had the comma before them. I said, 'He's right it is Friedrich Albrecht. There is a comma before each time the name is used and an extra space after the use, which may indicate the Von goes with 'of Prussia.'

"Caturanga looked the papers over, 'Very good. I believe you are correct. Certainly puts a new light on some problems we have been experiencing. Excuse me while I send off a few messages. Oh,' he walked over to the chessboard. He moved his knight, 'I believe that is Checkmate.'

"The next day Mr. Crowley approached Bobby with an envelope in hand and folder. He said, 'You and Wells are going on a small trip. In here are tickets on the Club Train to Paris leaving this afternoon from Charing Cross. You being staying at a new hotel, the Grand Hotel Terminus, and will be contacted there.'

"From that it was rather a rush. I looked at the folder and quickly sent out a few messages to visit the people affected by the artifact. We left for our residences to pack. I talked with my sister and she agreed to take care of Christina while I was gone. I had to promise Christina that if it was fun in Paris that I would take her the next spring when it was warmer. I also had to promise to bring her a new outfit for her doll, Wendy." She smiled, "No, not the same. Peter Pan and the play came to life later. I did meet Mr. Barrie. He was a friend of Mr. Doyle's and I met them at a dinner a few years after this.

"It was still a bit hurried getting to the train station in time. The train had two cars, which were very nicely appointed. There were lush upholstered chairs and couches with plenty of room in the aisles.

"Bobby and I sat together and reviewed the contents of the folder. There had been some robberies around Paris. The unique part of the thefts was the apparent use of a lamp that produced blindness for an hour or more. The thieves were shining the lamp at the victims and then making off with the goods. The reports varied but the victims were sure that there were two or more voices.

"Bobby asked if I saw anything that would help. I suggested that we talk with each of the victims to see if we could get a better description of the voices and then look at the scenes to determine whether there was anything unusual. He said that we needed to be careful.

"I smiled at him. I opened my case and pulled out two pair of glasses. You would call them sunglasses now. I said, 'I looked at the first letter before we left. I thought it might help if we could avoid the light of this artifact. I know they look like some kind of beggar's glasses, but they may be effective.'

"He laughed at me, 'You are rather inventive my dear. I should think we would make a fine couple strolling up the promenade.' At that point he took my hand in his and swung it a little.

"I put the glasses on and laughed back, 'We will see, or in this case, hopefully not see.' He laughed at the sight.

"We got to the station at Dover by Six O'clock and went over to the ferry. Fortunately the ride over was not choppy and we got there in time for the train from Calais. The train on the other side was nice and as well appointed. It was an easy ride to Paris.

"We got off at the Paris train station late that night. The hotel we were staying at was connected to the station with a walkway. We checked into our rooms and I had a good night's sleep.

"We met in the restaurant the next morning to plan the activities for the day. I had stopped by the front desk and got the responses to my requests. Our first visit was to the estate of the Flexion's. The grandfather had passed away the previous summer. He left literally a boatload of jewelry and old coins to the family. There were rumors they had really found the treasure of Monte Cristo. The thieves had taken the contents of a vault at the family villa. We figured it was an hour's trip into the countryside where the villa was located. The other meetings were set for the next day.

"Bobby arranged for a carriage ride out to the villa. After we got out of the city the countryside was spectacular. The leaves had not come down and it was a very nice fall day. I enjoyed Bobby's company as we went on our little trip. He talked of the leaves, the forest, a little of his past curiosities and surprisingly bit of Browning. Bobby pointed out that his poems of Paracelsus seemed to fit with working at the Warehouse. It was quite charming. The leaves were bright orange, reddish and yellow. The ride was at the very least interesting.

"We got to the villa and there was a sizeable drive up to the main building. We were met by the maid of the house and shown to the study. I was studious again and learned some of the family. The grandfather was shown in one painting and in several pictures. He was with the then current President of France, Sadi Carnot, in one picture. Another picture had him with a young Wilhelm II. That definitely sparked my interested as I then strolled the room while we waited.

"The maid then opened the door and a man who introduced himself as Ralph Flexion came into the room. He welcomed us to the residence and asked if he could help us in our investigation. Bobby asked him to give us as much information he remembered about the incident and then show us where the safe was kept.

"At that point I smiled. The position of the safe had been obvious. There was a rollaway set of drawers with the desk that could be moved out of position to reveal the front of the safe. The side of the safe could be seen from an angle to the other side beneath the desk. I said, 'I assume the safe is the one under the desk?'

"Ralph replied, 'Exactly, we found the door of the safe open after we recovered from the light. The thieves came to the door. I can't say I remember them very well as they flashed that light in my eyes as soon as I opened the door. My wife was next as she was coming down the stairs to the door. She only remembers that they both wore dark hats and brown or dark coats. I remember one had a beard and I know the other smoked. A pipe I believe. I heard him pound it out on the door frame before he came in and then later I could smell the lighting of a fresh pipe." Helena noticed Claudia about to asked a question, "Yes dear?"

Claudia chuckled. "I'm sorry, but were you speaking English or French with Ralph?"

"Oh yes, well we had to be conversant in several languages. French was one of Bobby's and mine. I assume that was as normal then as your proficiency with computers is now." Helena looked at Claudia and then Myka. "Parlez-vous français?"

Myka smiled, "Bien sûr. Et, russe, española, italien, latin, et je peux lire certains Chinois."

Helena almost laughed, "Aucun Chinois, mais le portugais et le grec, et non pas en latin." Helena saw Claudia's eyes following the exchange and realized she understood. "Vous aussi?"

Claudia started, "Oui, vous avez raison. Allemande aussi, et puis Fortran, Cobol, C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby et SQL. La plupart de ce qui était nécessaire pour trouver mon frère."

Myka nodded at Helena, "Okay, a story for another day, 'How Claudia joined the Warehouse, or Knock, Knock.'"

Claudia silently wondered whether Myka had looked at her computer screen. She was close to getting through again. But she wanted to hear the rest of Helena's story. "So, you have to tell us the rest. Why didn't the maid answer the door?"

Helena thought for a second, "Yes, I thought the maid could be a problem too. She did not answer the door, as she did when we came to visit. When the thieves came, Mr. Flexion opened the door. We later found the maid only worked at the residence during the day. She would go home at night to take care of her two children.

"Mr. Flexion did continue, 'I was amazed that the thieves did not ask for a combination. One of them, I think the one with the pipe went over to the safe and worked on it for a while before opening it. The other would remind him how long they had before we could see again. They finished taking all of the money we had in the safe along with two diamond necklaces, a tiara, three ruby and sapphire bracelets, and four golden rings. I think it was a few minutes after they left before our sight came back.'

"The wife said about the same thing. And we did question the maid and found why she hadn't opened the door. We went around the house once and I stopped at the front door. I took a little pouch and scooped up what I thought was the remaining tobacco from where the thief cleaned his pipe.

"When we got back, we found that we had some of the afternoon remaining. I suggested that we visit the World's Fair. I must say that it was amazing. The first was the Eiffel Tower. When we were on our trip the tower was not completely opened. We went to the second story of the building. But we did get to visit many of the shows offering a variety of music. We even took in the Wild West Show with Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley."

A/N Please leave a review.

**Caturanga's History Lesson**

Club Train to Paris (see Google SER Continental Club Train)

Grand Hotel Terminus, now the Hotel Concorde Opera Paris (formerly the Concorde St. Lazare Hotel), Paris (see Google)

Peter Pan, J.M Barrie (see Wikipedia)

Exposition Universelle (see same article as above and Wikipedia)

Sunglasses were introduced in 1929 (See Wikipedia)

Robert Browning (See Wikipedia)

Sadi Carnot (see Wikipedia)

"Parlez-vou François?" (Google translator) 'Do you speak French?'

"Bien sûr. Et russe, española, italien, latin, et je peux lire certains Chinois." (Google translator) 'Of course. And Russian, Spanish, Italian, Latin and I can read some Chinese.'

"Aucun Chinois, mais le portugais et le grec, et non pas en latin." (Google translator) 'No Chinese, but Portuguese and Greek, not Latin.'

"Vous aussi?" (Google translator) 'You too?'

"Oui, vous avez raison. Allemande aussi, et puis Fortran, Cobol, C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby et SQL. La plupart de ce qui était nécessaire pour trouver mon frère." (Google translator) 'Yes, you are right. German too, and then Fortran, Cobol, C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby and SQL. Most of that was necessary to find my brother.' A note, I did add German to Claudia's list as it only made sense if she was trying to free her brother from Rheticus' Compass that she would learn some German.


	15. Chapter 15 Another Ping

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 15—Another Ping**

**The B&B**

Claudia, Myka and Helena were at the dinner table. Helena had just said that she saw Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. Myka was floored, "What? You did what?"

Helena puzzled a bit with Myka's comment. It did seem like quite a while ago that she saw Bill Cody. But then she realized that to Myka he would have been a historical figure. Helena smiled, "Yes, I saw his show at Paris, and then again at the Chicago World's Fair. I actually met him in his wagon at the show. He was a remarkable man."

Myka would not quite let it go, "So wait, I never really thought of this. I mean who all did you get to meet."

Claudia thought about it too. "Wait Myka, you were in the Secret Service on the Presidential Detail. You would have met Presidents Bush and Obama and all the people they met. Who all would that be?"

"Quite right, being in the Warehouse and working with Caturanga, I eventually met the Queen and several other dignitaries. And living in London, my brother and I met several of the authors of the time. I even got to meet your Mark Twain. Samuel Clemens was a friend of Nik Tesla. We met in him at Nik's lab one time. He had so many humorous stories; we were laughing most of the time he was there. We even talked about time travel. He had a book with a young boy that traveled back in time. We discussed whether there could be alternate timelines. It was an interesting discussion as shortly after that I found the limitations of my own time travel." Helena shook her head at the thought.

Myka was reaching out to her when Artie came in. Artie looked at them and noticed again the splint on Claudia and cast on Helena. He looked over at Myka and saw the bandage on her head. "Well, I…"

Myka smiled at him, "What Artie?"

"We just got a ping. I'll send Pete and Steve. They should be able to handle it."

Myka shook her head, "I'm okay. It's just a cut. I should be able to that the bandage off tomorrow. I can go with Pete."

"No, it was a bad idea anyway. You just had a head injury. I'll send Pete and Steve. They can take care of this," Artie turned and started yelling for Pete.

Claudia got out her Farnsworth and looked at the display, then went back to her computer. She read the display and then looked at Myka. "Back to Kansas City, something causing people to black out. I agree with Artie. Not something we should be doing right now. Three banks have been hit."

Myka got up, "Let's go see if they need anything." Claudia and Helena got up from the table and followed Myka out of the room. They went to Pete's room first.

Myka got to the room first as Claudia was helping Helena up the stairs. Myka went in the door and said, "Hey. You getting packed."

"I just got back. I mean we just got…" Pete started to mumble.

"Pete, Pete, look it's me. I'm here," she realized he still may be having problems.

He shook his head as he continued to pack, "I know. It was just hard thinking I might have lost you again."

She smiled and bumped his shoulder, "Don't get all mushy and sweet." They others entered the room. Myka said, "Look, I am sorry I can't go with you."

He looked up at her, "Yeah, another one where my jokes…"

Claudia shook her finger in defense of her partner, "Don't even. And most of your jokes, well."

"Hey, what is this? Pile on Pete day," he moped.

Myka went around to Pete and rubbed his shoulder as he packed, "Look, this is serious. Be careful out there. You need any help call."

"I know Myks. You get better. We need that noggin of yours," he reached up and mushed her hair.

"Careful now," she smiled at him.

Claudia went out and over to Steve's room, "Hey there. Everything good."

Steve looked up, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Right, remember," Claudia made Steve promise that he would never lie to her. It was the deal since she knew he could tell when she wasn't telling the truth, and she wasn't gong to lie to him.

"Well, let's see I was dead. You were almost dead and…" Steve started.

Claudia realized Steve was having similar problems as Pete. Claudia heard the exchange between grunts getting Helena up the stairs. "Look, I know. And you know that me going to Miami was because something else was going on. As a matter of fact, I think it still is. Be careful."

"Are you going to… Well, what are you going to do?" Steve asked.

"I am trying to run down the loose ends from the deaths at Miami. It was a set up. And the plane accident was an attack. Mr. Kosan is going to verify that. So yes, I am still working things." She paused and said, "Look just be careful. And call me."

"Okay, okay. We'll be fine." He closed his bag and asked, "So what are you going to do about Dwayne?"

"Ah, I let him know I was in an accident. Unless something else comes up, I'll see him tonight."

Steve smiled at her, "And how are you going to get away from Kato?"

"Oh, this is just the band. I have to see if I can play at all." She held up her hand.

"Yeah, well good luck with that." He came close to her, "Look, I need you to be careful too. Okay?"

"Yeah," she answered as she watched him grab his bag and head out.

**Warehouse 13**

The next morning Claudia was dressed in her Mrs. Wiggins outfit down on the Warehouse floor. Artie was working the next isle over from her. She laughed at his appearance in the marshmallow man outfit. Although with his air filter he did look a little more like Gonzo.

Myka came over, "Say when are Pete and Steve calling in?"

"About two hours. Steve said they did not have any problems checking in with the police," Claudia replied.

"Seems normal. You get a call from Steve and I get…" Myka started to say.

"Hey, well I told him to call. Not sure if he took that as a partner request or an order from….But hey, it worked." Claudia smiled.

Helena came up beside them, "It worked? Your practice session last night, how did that work for you."

"Details, details," added Myka.

"Okay, okay. Went to the session at Dwayne's. Everything was fine. I told I was in an accident," Claudia started.

Kato added from the other side of the isle, "Like that was a believable story. She said the van I was driving rolled over. We all got some cuts and she got a broken arm. She even included you two also."

"Yeah, well for some reason he bought it. At least he did not ask any more questions." Claudia almost stuck out her tongue at Kato.

"And the other good thing, he was afraid the hug you too hard so there wasn't much to make me think I should have gotten another…" Kato was quickly interrupted.

"You know better than that. You enjoy all this stuff." She cocked her head and looked at him through the shelving. "And a little privacy, when you know full well where I am and all the entrances, wouldn't hurt."

Kato got the stare from Myka and Helena.

Claudia went on, "He came in at the… Well, anyhow I can play. It hurt. But if we play a song that doesn't require too many chord changes I can handle it."

"So, when is the band going to perform?" Myka asked.

"I guess in another week. We are on the list to perform at the coffee house for their band night."

"We will certainly be there," Helena said confidently.

**Kansas City **

Steve shook his head in disbelief. "Hey Pete, isn't this a little strange for even Warehouse standards?"

Pete chuckled, "Just because everyone blacks out, there are no videos and no finger prints does not mean it's strange. Oh contraire, just means we are dealing with a professional artifact. As a matter of fact, it's probably one that comes from bank robberies."

"What you think some kind of Bonnie and Clyde thing did this?" Steve asked.

"No. Well, could be. But the artifact could be related to robberies. Let's see if Artie or Claudia can find anything." Pete flipped open his Farnsworth. Pete saw everyone in back of Artie and Claudia on the Farnsworth screen. He quipped, "Still cleaning the place?"

Claudia blew her nose and replied, "Don't worry, doesn't matter when you get back, there will still be areas for you to clean."

"Okay, okay, focus people. What do you have?" Artie broke in.

A/N Please leave a review.

**Caturanga's History Lesson**

Buffalo Bill Cody was at both fairs (see Wikipedia)

Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens was a friend of Nikola Tesla (see Wikipedia)

Exposition Universelle 1889 (see Wikipedia)

Bonnie and Clyde were in the Kansas City area (see Wikipedia)


	16. Chapter 16 Video

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 16—Video**

**Warehouse 13**

"What do you have?" Artie repeated to Pete and Steve.

"We looked at what they have and it isn't much. Just like the info we had from the Ping, everyone blacks out. Either these guys are professionals or the artifact takes care of it. There are no finger prints and no video surveillance of the robberies." Pete got closer to the Farnsworth, "Artie, do you know of anything like that?"

"Separately yes, but combined…" Artie paused to think.

"Hey, those videos have anything or was it turned off?" Claudia asked.

Steve answered, "It's static the whole time. It does return to normal."

Artie perked up at that, "Do you know when it comes back?"

Steve replied, "About the same time as everyone comes around."

Claudia then asked, "So can you get one of the videos?"

"Yeah, I have a copy here. It is on a DVD." Steve held it up.

"Oh great, put it in your computer. I'll send you a software patch to load. Then connect your computer to the Farnsworth in the USB port." She saw Artie looking at her, "21st Century Artie, not stone man." She turned back to the Farnsworth, "I'll see if I can strip the static away."

Myka went next, "Is there anything different from the last scene before the static to the first one after?"

Pete nodded and should have known Myka would ask that, "No, we haven't looked. How about you check the one Steve sends?"

Myka agreed, "Sure."

Helena had a feeling that this was too similar to the story she was just telling Claudia and Myka, "Did they take anything other than money?"

Steve answered, "Yes, they went to the safety deposit boxes in all of the banks and took the money in the tellers drawers."

"Yes well, they could have been after the contents of the boxes and not really the money. It would be best to see if you can get a list of the contents taken from each," Helena suggested.

Steve was a little surprised, but figured Helena may not know the current rules, "Hey that's going to be a bit difficult. We tried that when I was in my last job. The banks don't have that information and it's hard to even get a list of the people that have boxes."

Claudia smiled, "I'll see what I can do." She knew that this was something Mrs. Frederic would have taken care of. She wasn't sure how this would work, but she was going to try.

Artie was still flipping pages when he said, "Okay, when you get more, call back." Claudia nodded and Artie closed the Farnsworth.

Claudia went over to her laptop and waited as the file of the video began to transfer. She got her Farnsworth and walked to the next room. She opened it and got Mr. Kosan immediately.

"What is it, Miss Donovan?"

"Mr. Kosan," she thought she would become a little more formal as Mr. Kosan had, "Agents Lattimer and Jinks are in Kansas City right now looking for an artifact associated with the theft at four banks. The theft included articles from the safety deposit boxes at these banks. They will need to be able to determine what was in the boxes."

Mr. Kosan knew what was required. "I'll have Justice send a note in your name to the banks. They will provide the information." He looked down a minute, "You will also be getting the current listing of people in positions to help you with requests such as this. They know to respond."

That caught Claudia off guard. She had still expected everything would have to go through Mr. Kosan. She finally responded, "Thank you."

"If you have any problems, let me know." He ended the call.

Claudia instantly thought maybe they all got like that. She promised herself not to do it. She went back to her computer and began her program. She set it so it would run through lunch.

Later they crowded around the display as Claudia pointed things out. The software had cleaned the screens. Claudia began, "It was normal quality surveillance video, not that great. But you can see things as we go along. While their faces are not shown here, you can see that the guy brings out a box. He pushes something on it, probably a button and then the video gets static."

Myka asked, "Is that big enough to be a jammer, or is it an artifact?"

Claudia shrugged, "Without being able to open it up I don't know. It is big enough to be a real jammer." She looked over at Artie, "What do you think?"

"Could be either," Artie acknowledged.

"Well next, this guy holds up a some kind of glove." Claudia pointed.

"I believe that is an old boxing glove. Looks rather like the ones we used to use," Helena commented.

Artie looked up from one of his books as Claudia froze the frame, "Yes, here it is. Corbett's gloves from the Corbett versus Sullivan fight have an ability to knock out people when first introduced to them."

Myka then pointed at the man's hands, "And he is wearing gloves, so no fingerprints."

Claudia went ahead a few frames, "Here's a shot of them at the safety deposit boxes. They are just dumping the contents into the bags. I never had a clear look at the contents of any of the boxes." She went ahead a few frames, "Okay, when they come out, right here, their faces show up. I copied them and have a comparison program running. No hits yet, but it just started."

"Did you send them out to the FBI criminal section?" Kato was standing there watching.

Claudia looked at him and smiled, "I have their database and get their updates."

Artie's Farnsworth rang at that time and he opened it to see Pete and Steve, "What do you have?"

Pete started, "We got the names of the deposit box owners. Thanks to Miss Donovan." He held up an official letter from DOJ. "But there are close to twenty names per bank. This is going to take a while."

Artie grumbled and looked at the people around him, "I'll come out this afternoon. The artifact is a pair of old boxing gloves. The kind they wore in 1890, not much padding. There could be another artifact, a small box that produces a jamming signal. Start working on the list of people with boxes. We are looking to see if there is another artifact these guys were after." He looked over at Claudia.

"I have the pictures of the thieves and just sent them to you, " Claudia added.

Artie got back, "Give those to the local police and see if they have anything on them." He was about to close the Farnsworth.

Claudia held out her hand, "Let us know what you find. And be careful."

**Kansas City **

Pete, Steve and Artie were sitting at a table for lunch. Steve looked at Pete in wonder, "How many ribs are you going to eat?"

"What a slab isn't that many?" Pete retorted.

"Right," Steve shrugged. "So, we did not get anything this morning. Did you?"

Artie shook his head, "Nothing that sounded close to an artifact."

Pete wiped his mouth, "Well, as a robbery is the contents of the boxes adding up to anything worth much. We had old watches, rings, some bonds and old coins. But I don't think it would be more than twenty or thirty thousand."

"Yes, they have to be after something very specific. Another artifact would certainly fit that," Artie agreed.

"Well, we only got another fifty some families to go." Steve put his napkin down. "Come on Pete. We are supposed to meet the next couple at one o'clock."

Artie opened his Farnsworth.

Claudia appeared at the other end, "I was wondering when you would check in. The Barbeque place? How much are you eating?"

"I am doing fine, young lady. You ought to be worrying about Pete," Artie came back.

Myka fill the screen next, "Pete what are you doing?"

"Nothin' Ma, I've been good," he scrunched his face at her.

Claudia came back, "Okay, we got names on both individuals. One is Allen B. James of Westford, Massachusetts with several prior convictions, mainly bank heists. The other man is Rodney L. Hamersley of Atlanta, Georgia with similar convictions. We believe they joined up at their last imprisonment in Atlanta. Our best link to the gloves is a robbery of a pawnshop near New Orleans.

"From here I am not sure but it might fit. I was able to locate some records on Allen James. He could be related to Jesse James. In any case, he apparently fancies himself to be a distant relative.

"Next is another leap, they may not be after an artifact. Allen always believed that the loot from the Jesse James robbery of the Clay County Savings in Liberty, Missouri, was buried in some farmland outside of Kansas City. There is a good possibility they are after a map. This is believed to be a corner of that map." Claudia held up a picture of a corner piece of paper with JJ initials on it.

A/N Please leave a review.

**Caturanga's History Lesson**

A little imagining with:

Sullivan vs. Corbett 1892 (see Wikipedia)

Jesse James (see Wikipedia)


	17. Chapter 17 More Pings

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 17—More Pings**

**Warehouse 13**

Artie was thinking about what Claudia had told them. Pete was just puzzled. Steve asked, "Claud, where did you get that?"

Claudia answered, "Well, the faces matched with the FBI information. Their last job was done at New Orleans. I was also able to get the other information from one of the FBI profile sheets. That file had pictures from Allen's room. One of them included the corner of what was supposed to be a map."

"That's it," Artie announced. "We have a photo of that map too. It's in the records room under Liberty, Missouri."

Pete laughed, "Maybe we can head them off at the pass, partner." That elicited a giggle from Myka.

Artie shook his head, "Just get it."

Claudia came back with the photo. She held it up to the Farnsworth. "Now, that we know what it is, I can run a compare and send you the results. But it does look to be closer to Liberty than Kansas City."

"Okay, we'll head that way. Give us the update on the way," Artie answered.

In the background, they saw that Pete had already come up with a cowboy hat. They heard, "move 'em out," before the Farnsworth close.

Myka shook her head. Helena looked over at Claudia and asked, "What are you going to do with the map?"

Claudia smiled, "Oh, back when I was trying to find this place, I build a program to help of. It has several maps in it and I can do a comparison with this map. It should just take a few minutes. The real problem will be that things change over time." She pointed to the river on the map, "Even the river here could have shifted."

Helena smiled, "You are amazing. I would have wonder around a bit starting from this hill or rock formation on the map, until I found the marker." She pointed to another JJ hidden with the trees.

"Good, we'll tell Artie that. It is likely what Allen and Rodney are doing." She looked at the computer, "Oh, that was fast. Humm, the JJ is a landmark. See the way the hill at the corner is formed, an old J."

"Wow, that's great Claud," exclaimed Myka.

"Okay we'll send the info…" The buzzing from the main console annoyed Claudia. "What now?"

Myka looked over, "Another Ping. Something from New Jersey." She went over and sat at the display. "Some kind of attempted entry at a research facility, actually there were several attempts."

Claudia flipped open the Farnsworth and Myka came over. Myka started, "Claudia has the information you need. Meanwhile, there is another Ping. Attempted entries at a research facility in New Jersey." Myka watched him think about what to do.

"Okay, get all the info you can and then you and Helena head out there and ask around. I'll be out as soon as we locate the James Gang." He looked at the Farnsworth, "Is Claudia going to send that information?"

Claudia came back, "You already have it on your Farnsworth and your phones have it loaded with the coordinates. Just check you phones' maps."

Pete answered in the background, "Got it." Artie closed the phone.

Claudia went over to the main console and started reading the information about the research facility. The facility was used for microbiology and DNA research. She turned to Myka, "Could be related to Miami. Be careful."

Myka looked at her, "Are you coming?"

"Artie, didn't say anything about me going," she responded.

Myka smiled and squinted her eyes, "So, is Miss Donovan coming?"

"No, not yet. I need to finish some other searches," Claudia pointed to her laptop. "But I am not kidding, be careful."

"Okay well, we better get going then," Myka headed to the door and Helena followed.

Claudia motioned to Kato. He followed her to the next room. Claudia stopped, "I want some extra protection for them until I can figure out what is happening from Miami and whether this is related. Is that possible?"

Kato nodded, "Anything you want Miss Donovan." They smiled at each other.

Claudia nodded and gave him a hug, "You're the best. Thank you." She went back to her laptop and continued to work.

**Near Liberty, Missouri**

Steve remarked, "Well, that didn't take long."

Pete smiled looking at his phone map, "Yeah, it wasn't that far away. So, we should be looking for something in the woods over there."

Artie got out of the car, "Remember we are after the gloves, not some buried treasure."

Pete nodded, "We should probably split up. We don't need them to be able to zap all of us at once."

Steve brighten at that. He remembered what Claudia had given him. He reached into his traveling case and came out with two glasses cases. He handed one to Pete, "Claudia said something about an HG story and gave these to me. They might protect us from the artifact."

Artie reached in his bag and got out his clip on sunglasses, "Good idea. But splitting up, also seems good."

Much later Pete said into his Farnsworth, "Do you think these guys are ever going to come?"

Artie acknowledged, "We'll wait until dark. If they don't show by then, they'll never find it in the dark."

**The B&B**

Claudia was on the Farnsworth with Artie. Artie grumbled, "They didn't show."

Claudia smiled at him, "We never said they were smart. It might take them a while."

"Well, is there anything else we can check on?" Pete asked. "You sure we got the right spot?"

"Oh, the match was right on," Claudia responded.

Steve was looking at the map again, "You know it is going to take a little digging. Maybe they went to get some equipment. A backhoe would be nice."

Artie looked at Steve and agreed, "Okay, we'll check for equipment rentals." He closed the Farnsworth.

Claudia smiled thinking, _'__At__least__we__are__getting__back__to__normal.__'_ Her Farnsworth rung again. Expecting Artie, she was surprised seeing Myka. "Yeah, how is it going?"

"We've seen where they tried to get in," Myka relayed.

"Rather a crude attempt," added Helena.

"But the research facility is not giving us any assistance. They said their under some contract with DoD and they will not discuss any thing with us." Myka was noticeably upset. "We told Artie. He said to let you know.

Claudia responded, "Okay, got it. It will probably be tomorrow morning before I can get anything on this. I'll let you know." She was happy they said goodbye to each other rather than just closing the Farnsworth. She slumped as she sat at her laptop. It was going to be a long night.

After a while Claudia stood up. She remembered there was one thing she had to do tonight. She checked herself in the mirror and went down to the living room. Kato was there. "Hey, I still want to go to the coffee shop. Dwayne's going to be playing tonight and need to go for a least one set."

Kato put down his book, "Sure, are you ready to go?"

"Yes, all set." She had her bag with her and a coat on already.

**Univille**

As they were walking toward the coffee shop Claudia turned to Kato, "You know that…"

Kato smiled at her, "Don't worry boss lady. We got this covered. We've checked him out. He's okay. And the coffee shop is covered."

Claudia smiled. She wondered a little about the checking out Dwayne, but it did make sense. It was certainly better than finding out at the last minute that Todd was on the Witness Protection program and would be leaving. Or finding out from Gibson that Fargo was involved with some other Doctor at Eureka. Maybe being the Caretaker did have some perks.

Claudia walked in and saw Dwayne putting his guitar in its cradle. He waved at her and they met at an empty table. "So, nice."

"How's you arm?"

"Good, better. Been typing away and have had no problems." He gave her a puzzled look; she went on, "A lot of reports and requests. So, anyway it is better than the last session."

He reached over and gave her a lingering kiss. "Just so you know, I missed you."

She felt a small glow. She blinked thinking of some time alone, "Me too." She looked own and then back at him. "I get to stay for one of your sets."

He smiled back at her, "Just who does control your time?"

She laughed a little at the thought. Tonight was hers. But she felt driven to find out more about Miami and the crash. She knew there were several things to get done. And to do them all, would take all night. Then she knew the answer, "Right now, you do."

**The B&B**

Leena was watching Claudia eat like there was only ten seconds left. "Claudia, it's breakfast. You need something after only sleeping a couple hours."

Claudia nodded. Leena must have heard her going up to her room. She had worked in the dining room with everything spread out on the table. At three o'clock in the morning, her was finally done. Her programs had control and she needed to wait while they did what they were designed to do.

Leena went on, "So how did last night go?"

Claudia could only think on one thing, "It was good. Good. We had a table in the corner and well."

Leena looked over at Kato. He smiled and nodded.

Claudia's Farnsworth rang. She opened it and saw Myka.

Myka was smiling, "It worked. We got in and they are answering our questions."

Claudia asked, "So is there an artifact involved?"

Myka went on, "Sure looks like it. The people who have been trying to get into the facility are getting further with each attempt. So far they have tripped an alarm on each try. But the first obstacle is a keypad and it is elaborate. They get passed that, probably using an artifact. It's the motion and sound detectors that have held then off."

Kato came up next to Claudia. "I've seen set ups like that before. Did they catch any of the people involved?'

"No, that is the other curiosity. The perpetrators are gone by the time anyone responds." Helena answered. "They have to be super fast to get away.

That did perk Claudia's interest.

A/N Please leave a review.


	18. Chapter 18 Lab

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 18—Lab**

**The B&B**

Claudia asked, "Okay, they used an artifact that helps them with a keypad and they may have something that helps them go real fast."

"That's about it," Myka replied. "Artie suggested it could be something related to Houdini."

Helena added, "We did enjoy his performances. He was quite good. Read that he had a falling out with Mr. Doyle. That was a shame. I think Artie would have enjoyed him."

Claudia smiled. Hearing Helena rambling was a little different, "So, I'll check. I thought Houdini was a mainly handcuff, straitjacket… Never mind, I'll check. Do you need anything else?"

"No, we got it. Thanks," Myka replied and they hung up.

Claudia closed her Farnsworth only to have it ring again. She opened it to find another Ping. She looked over to the kitchen, "Hey Leena, I have to go. We have another Ping." She turned to Kato, "Well, grab a cup. We've got to head up to the Warehouse."

Kato went over to the credenza and got a thermos. He poured the coffee in that and held it up, "Okay, ready."

**Warehouse 13**

Claudia read the screen. She had Artie on the Farnsworth. "Artie, it's up in Haverstraw, New York."

"Okay well, I need to finish up here first. You can go up with Agent Mulinu…" Artie began.

She wasn't going to let him go further, "Kato, Artie."

"Yes, Kato. Take him and see what you can find. If you need help before I get up there, Myka and Helena can get to you." Artie closed the Farnsworth.

Claudia shook her head. She looked over at Kato. "Okay, so you heard that. I expect you be working more like a Warehouse Agent on this one. If we need some additional support, you'll need to ask for it."

He had his phone by his ear, "On it."

**Newark, New Jersey**

Myka was explaining it once again to the facility manager and security lead, "We are going to stay in your Section 5 lab. The entrances they have been using are close to the lab. You turn off the alarms system and reroute it to the video cameras. We'll follow them in and when they open the lab door, we'll knock them out with our Teslas. They are like a Taser, only can be fired from further away."

The manager said, "Okay. But we are going to safe guard the experiment in there. It will be put in the lab safe. It's a controlled environment with an old fashion kind of lock."

Helena smiled, "Yes, they do seem to have a problem with those. Each of their routes has avoided those locks."

The manager led them to the lab. The scientists were just finishing and put the samples and notes away in the safe. Myka and Helena took a seat in front of the monitors that were put in the lab.

After awhile everyone had left. Myka and Helena were watching the monitors. Myka decided to check in with Pete. He was in the screen of the Farnsworth in a second, "Hey, what's up Myks?

"We are in the lab which we think is the target. We are going to wait for the intruders and then use our Tesla on them."

"Yeah, we are doing about the same. We followed up on Steve's suggestion and checked with the heavy equipment rental companies, but no luck there. So we are out in the field again waiting to see if the James Gang can figure out their map and come to the treasure."

Helena asked, "Did you look to see whether the booty is there?"

"No, Artie said we are here to get the artifact not become treasure hunters," Pete shrugged.

"Well, at least you would know for sure you are in the right spot," Myka agreed.

"Maybe when we are done," Pete replied.

"Okay. Let us know. See you." Myka closed the Farnsworth hoping there was something else to do.

In a little while the Farnsworth rang. Myka answered. It was Claudia, "We just got in. I talked with Kato. We aren't going to make it to the new Ping location in Haverstraw with enough time to see anyone. So we thought we would check in with you."

Myka smiled, "Well, that isn't going to work to well. We are in the likely target of the intruders. It is their Section 5 lab. We figured we would catch them in the act. I just talked with Pete. They are doing about the same thing with the James Gang."

Claudia wasn't really going to give up, "Okay, we'll stop by in the morning before we head up to Haverstraw."

Myka replied, "Okay, we'll see you then."

"Okay," Claudia closed the Farnsworth. She looked out to the curb at the airport terminal. She turned to Kato, "Maybe I should have said we got diverted to the Newark airport. Can you contact the team you have watching them?"

"No problem. We can join them in their surveillance if that is what you are thinking," Kato asked.

"Yes, that would be fine. Let's head over there." Claudia motioned to the door.

Two FBI agents met them and took them in their van over to the building across from the Research Facility. Kato walked up to the lead agent, Agent Jackson, and introduced himself as Agent Mulinu and Miss Donovan as his boss.

Agent Jackson had just re-read the message they received on the requirement for the night. It had included Miss Donovan as the requestor and had been signed-off by SAC Newark. He responded, "Let us know if there is anything we can help you with."

Kato continued, "We'll monitor the activity from here."

Claudia went to one of the tables and got out her laptop. In a minute she had it turned on and the surveillance video from inside the Research Facility was displayed. In another second a dashboard with power, water and air conditioning was also displayed.

Kato sat beside her and whispered, "I didn't know they gave you a link to their security."

Claudia cocked her head and looked at him, "I'm not going to let Myka and Helena sit there without a backup. I have this set so the doors to the Research Facility will be open to us and give us a direct path to the lab, rather than the path the intruders will have to follow."

Kato nodded that he understood.

It did not take long for the activity to begin. Jackson called out, "We have a van with three people stopping by the west side door. Two people dressed in dark outfits are approaching the door."

Claudia opened the Farnsworth.

Myka came in the screen, "What? We are kind of busy. They are here."

"I know. We are across the street with a six-man FBI unit. I have my computer on with the same screens you are monitoring." She set the Farnsworth down, "I am going to leave the line open and mute my end. We are here if you need anything."

"Okay, I'll leave this open," Myka put her Farnsworth down also.

Claudia could see that Myka and Helena had their weapons out. The two intruders had opened the first door. They by-passed the next door with the old lock and took the next-door down. Claudia could tell that they were moving fast. Each door opened when put in contact to something that looked like large rings. Claudia assumed they were handcuffs.

The intruders were at the lab door. Claudia saw them draw guns from under their vests. They were ready when they kicked the door open. Myka and Helena discharged their Teslas at the Intruders. One went down. The other continued to fire and went directly to the safe. Claudia saw him put a device to the safe, which looked to be sticking to it.

Claudia hit the mute button and screamed, "Get out of there! He is going to blow the safe."

Myka ran forward shooting once more at the intruder by the safe. Helena reached down to the intruder on the floor and pulled away the handcuffs. Side by side they dove to the lab door.

Claudia saw them go through the door and took over the building. She shut down the power, which activated the secondary biohazard door at each lab. All the labs were sealed off. As soon as she did that she closed her laptop and looked at Kato, "We have to get them out of there." She ran to the exit.

Kato followed waving his arm to get the attention of Agent Jackson and the others to follow. They raced across the street. Claudia had her cell phone out and launched one of the apps. The front door swung open and she and Kato ran into the building. It was a direct path to lab 5. When they got there they could see that Myka was trying to hold on to Helena and get down the hall. Kato swooped over and picked up Helena. Claudia grabbed Myka and started pulling her back they way they came. They bolted out the front door as the explosion went off.

Agent Jackson was to the side as where several other men in black tactical outfits. He pointed at Claudia when she came out with Myka.

The man came up to Claudia. He held up a badge and said, "I'm Agent Nathan Clay from DoD. We'll be taking over from here." His men began putting on gas masks and entered the building.

Kato had just put Helena down. They heard what the man said. Helena held up the handcuffs so that Claudia could see them and nodded. Claudia took her hand from around Myka's waist and realized it was a bit sticky and warm. She looked at Myka and before she said anything, Claudia looked back at the man. She said flatly, "We have what we want. Go ahead."

A/N Please leave a review.

Caturanga History Lesson

Harry Houdini (see Wikipedia)


	19. Chapter 19 Arrowhead

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 19—Arrowhead**

**Newark, New Jersey**

Claudia looked at Myka. She had wondered why Myka seem to be straining on the way out of the building. Myka's face was a little pale. "Myka, what happened? Were you shot?"

Myka's face was stressed. She was gritting her teeth. "My side. Hurts really bad."

Claudia pulled her blouse and vest out of the way. She looked at the wound, "Kato, she has been shot. Must have been at the edge of the vest. We need to get her to a hospital."

Kato nodded, "Agent Wells is not doing that good either. She can barely stand." Kato pointed to the van they had used to get over to the building. "Let's just take them." He called to the two agents that brought them, "We have to get them to a hospital."

Helena was a pain. She could not put any pressure on her leg. She looked at Claudia, "Must have done something when I went for the handcuffs." She really could not move from where Kato had put her down.

In a second the van was in front of them.

A few hours later Claudia and Helena were in the hospital recovery room with Myka. Claudia looked at the new cast that was put on Helena's leg. She asked, "So Helena, what did the doctor say about your leg?"

"Well a typical man, said that I should take it easy and not try to run on it. He said that if it does not have the time to mend, that they would have to put screws in my leg to keep the bone together." She looked at Claudia for confirmation.

Claudia smiled, "Yeah. It is a normal thing. We can have Vanessa explain it."

Myka started to come around, "Hey."

"Hey you," Claudia returned. She reached for the water cup, "Would you like a drink?"

She took a sip and the doctor and nurse came over. They checked her readings. The doctor addressed the group and said, "You are fortunate. I have treated quite a few gun shot wounds. Yours appears to be a ricochet. The bullet penetrated the skin and hit the eighth rib. The rib is not cracked but will be sensitive for a while. There does not appear to be any internal damage, to the kidney or liver. The wound may seep a little over the next couple days. Make sure you change the dressing. And we'll go over this again before you are released." He looked at the clock. It was already 10:00 PM. "Which looks like will be tomorrow morning. One of the nurses will be taking you to your room for the night. Any questions?"

Myka shook her head and the doctor left.

Claudia slipped out of the room and went to talk with Kato. She asked, "Are we going to stay here?"

"We can if you want. It would be easier for security," Kato replied.

Claudia almost laughed, "Make it so." She remembered Pete doing that and one of her favorite shows.

Soon after they had Myka in her room, which had three beds, Artie called. He was on the Farnsworth looking a little worse for the wear, "We got them. I can head out in the morning." He saw Myka behind Claudia and asked, "What happened?"

"We didn't call earlier because it may blown your positions," Claudia answered. "Myka and Helena got the artifact. There was a shoot out when the intruders entered the lab. Myka was hit on the side by a ricochet. She is recovering and will be released from the hospital tomorrow. Helena twisted her leg and has a new cast. She is supposed to stay off of it for a few days."

"So what are you doing there?" Artie came back.

Helena looked over Claudia's shoulder into the Farnsworth. "Miss Donovan was here once again to rescue us. She got Myka and Kato gave me a lift out of danger."

Claudia added, "We got diverted to Newark on the way in and it was too late to see any of the people in Haverstraw. So I went to the building across the street from the Research Facility. I linked into their video and saw that the intruders had put a little too much C4 or some explosive on the safe in the lab. Kato and I went to get Myka and Helena out. Then we brought Myka to the hospital."

Artie rubbed his chin, "Okay, well."

"Artie, Kato and I can take care of Haverstraw. Kato arranged some additional support from the FBI. They can get Helena and Myka to their plane tomorrow. You'll just need to get them at the airport. Helena can't drive with her cast and Myka will likely be on some pain meds and shouldn't drive."

"Okay," Artie started to close the Farnsworth.

"Wait, what happened with you?" Claudia asked.

"Pete and Steve are taking the James Gang to the local authorities. They still had the money and the stolen items from the safety deposit boxes with them. I got the artifact and the jammer." Artie replied.

"Okay, I'll let you know what we find," Claudia ended.

"Do that," Artie closed the Farnsworth.

The next morning they woke in the hospital room to the sound of Claudia's Farnsworth ringing. Claudia got to the noise as quickly as she could. Opening it she saw Artie, "Yeah?"

"We are snowed in. The storm came in faster than they thought it would. We got at least a foot over most roads and it is drifting. The airport is closed. It will be later today or maybe tomorrow before we can get out." Artie explained.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Claudia asked.

"I talked to Leena. They are getting the top end of the storm and everything is closed there too."

Claudia was still trying to wake up, "And?"

"Have Myka and Helena stay with you," Artie continued.

Pete got into the viewer, "Just make sure they don't get hurt any more."

Myka called out from her bed, "I heard that. It wasn't my fault. I was wearing a vest."

Helena was next, "Artie, are we to help Claudia and go house to house looking for the artifact?"

Artie was getting flustered, "No. Claudia is perfectly capable of taking care of this one."

Helena turned and looked at Myka, "Oh good, I found some great stores to do a little shopping at."

Claudia heard that and said, "Thanks Artie, we got it. Don't get frozen. Bye." She closed the Farnsworth. She looked at Helena and Myka, "I'll see what Kato can arrange for an escort. And we'll meet tonight in the hotel at Haverstraw."

**Haverstraw, New York**

Claudia and Kato went to the school first. They visited with the principle. The Ping description showed several children from the West York Middle School being sent to the hospital for various cuts. Claudia and Kato were shown seats in front of the principle's, Mr. Stevens', desk. Having introduced themselves, Claudia began, "We are here to determine what maybe causing the injuries to the children that reported to the hospital."

"Oh well, we don't give out…" Mr. Stevens was interrupted when he got a letter from Claudia.

"We took care of that," she pointed to the letter from the local judge. "Now, if you would please."

"Yes, turns out a new student, Henry Jacobs, was playing a game of sorts with other students during the lunch period. It was not quite a full food fight, but close to it. They were shooting ketchup and mustard at each other. Henry pulled an arrowhead from his pocket and, we believe, used it to cut open the packages. He then began pointing the arrow at the other students. When each of them received a cut and began to cry out, Henry ran out of the lunchroom. The police have not found him."

Claudia followed, "Do you have his address?"

Having obtained the address, Claudia and Kato agreed that it might be easiest to just start there. On the way to the address, Kato pointed to one of the stores. "Hey, look at that."

Claudia looked to where he was pointing. It was a cards and comics store with a big sign saying 10% off for Christmas. Claudia immediately thought of that elusive comic to buy for Pete's Christmas present. "Yeah, if this works out, we can stop there on the way back."

Claudia went to the door of the old apartment. Kato was behind her. She walked in. She was immediately hit with the smell of garlic and onion. Someone was already cooking. She looked at the mailboxes next to the door. They had the names and apartment numbers. She pointed, "Apartment number 202b."

They started up to the apartment. Claudia knocked on the door. An elderly lady opened the door, "Hello, what are you here for?"

"Ma'am, I'm Agent Claudia Donovan and this is Agent Katundo Mulinu. We would like to talk with Henry Jacobs." Claudia was fully expecting to have the door shut in their face, but that was not the case.

The lady called out, "Henry, come out here. I told you they would be back."

A young boy came from the hallway, "Grandma, I said I did not mean it. I didn't know."

Claudia looked at the boy, "We just want to talk with you about what happened."

The boy looked at Claudia, "Just talk?"

"Sure," Claudia nodded.

He started to walk away. His grandmother wouldn't let it go, "Go ahead. He's headed to his room. Talk with him. He needs to know better."

Claudia and Kato looked at her and then each other. Claudia started to follow the boy. When they got to his room, she knocked on the frame, "Can we come in?"

The boy motioned them to the chairs by his desk. He climbed up on his bed. "What do you want?"

Kato was amazed with all the Jets posters and small display of team trading cards. He noticed that one was missing, the quarterback. He smiled and held up his hand, "Do you trade football cards?" He pointed at the display.

Henry was a bit surprised, "Sure. Those are my best. I've traded for them this season and actually got four of them in the trading packs I bought." He was proud of himself.

"Having problems getting the quarterback, Mark Sanchez?" Kato asked.

"Yeah, I had a couple but the guy I got them from bent the corners," he shook his head at how careless his friend had been.

Claudia nodded. She knew the answer to this. Pete went through himself for his comics and she imagined Henry would just love to get his missing card. If he was in to trading, she began, "Okay." The boy and Kato looked at her. "How about we make this easy. If we could get the missing card in good quality, could we trade it for the arrowhead you had at school?"

Henry was happy. "Really? I would be great! I just found it in the woods." He went over to a box in the corner of his room. "I didn't know it did anything."

"There's a card shop just down the street. Can you come with us?" Claudia asked.

"Sure I know where that is. I go there a lot. But they only have an autographed Red Zone Card," Henry replied.

Claudia looked at Kato. He came over and whispered, "Probably a few hundred dollars."

Claudia thought it would be okay. She had heard the story of Jane taking the bracelet from Sykes. A trade with a child was far better than outright taking an artifact.

A/N Please leave a review.


	20. Chapter 20 The Other Three

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 20—The Other Three**

**Over New York**

They were in their positions again. Claudia, Myka and Helena were in their row together. Kato was behind them. Myka watched Claudia close her laptop and asked her, "Did you get Jane?"

"Oh yes, she agreed to check in on Henry and make sure everything is alright. She and the other Regents have agreed to follow-up on each of the cases." Claudia knew that wasn't quite all of it. She had Mr. Kosan following up on the intruders at the Research Facility. She was already working on the background of Agent Clay. And she was waiting on the results from another Regent on the remains of the possible artifact from the plane crash.

Myka looked at Claudia and smiled, "You're still trying to follow-up to, aren't you?"

Claudia smiled back at her, "You know I am still trying to perfect that poker face." She put her laptop away and sat back up, "I bet Caturanga did too. Helena, can you start the rest of the story?"

"Yes dear," Helena composed her thoughts and began. "As you may remember Ralph Flexion described the contents of his safe as money along with two diamond necklaces, a tiara, three ruby and sapphire bracelets, and four golden rings. And I explained why the maid hadn't opened the door. At the end I mentioned stopping and getting what I thought was the remaining tobacco from where the thief cleaned his pipe. Then we went to the World's Fair."

"The next morning I met Bobby in the restaurant. We agreed to head to the Perrier and Sons art studio. They were one of the main fine art purveyors in Paris at the time. They not only displayed but also commissioned and auctioned art. Their collections included paintings, sculptures and the new media, pictures. The studio was on the east side of town in Bel-Air. Bobby had arranged through the concierge for a carriage. We finished our breakfast and began the trip.

"We arrived at the front of the studio and asked the driver to return in an hour. Bobby went to the door. I noticed ashes similar to the Flexion residence at the door. I wiped a bit on my handkerchief and took a whiff of it. It did smell the same as the tobacco at the Flexion's.

"The manager of the studio met us. As soon as we introduced ourselves, he was more than happy to relay his experience. He began, 'As I said, I am Alexander Perrier. I am the manager of the studio. My family began this endeavor thirty years ago. At first my father wanted to exhibit my mother's art but then he began taking on other artists. This incident was the first time we have been robbed. My assistant, Marie and I came to the door at the same time. It was late afternoon and we were preparing to close the studio. We have asked each other again and again what the men looked like but as soon as we opened the door a light flashed in our face. I think the one with the light had a beard and brown hair. Marie thinks it was closer to black. After the flash we could not see.'

"Alexander pointed to the room on our right. He continued, 'The other man pushed us into the display room. We were told to sit and not move. He had a German accent and was always smoking. I think it was a pipe. I heard him tamp it out once.'

"We followed Alexander into the room on the left. He said, 'They spent their time in this room with our collection. We have identified four paintings that were stolen: two were Manet café scenes; the other two were Claude Monet, some city scenes.'

"I asked if they had any descriptions of the art work. Alexander smiled at me, 'We just started to catalogue our pieces last summer. Marie takes a picture of them and put that in the files over there.' He moved over to the files and pulled out four cards. 'Yes, here they are.'

"I looked at the pictures. They were of sufficient quality to recognize the details of the paintings. I held one up to the light. I looked at him and asked, 'Could we barrow these? I'd like to study the pictures a bit more.'

"He looked a little quizzical, but answered, 'Certainly, if it will help get them back.' He waved his arm around, "Is there anything we could show you or help you with?'

"I think Bobby was about to leave but I asked, 'When the men went to get the paintings, did they go directly to the ones they stole and depart, or did they shuttle around the paintings a bit to find the right ones?'

"Alexander responded, 'Well, there really is no order to the collection room. They spent a bit of time going through the paintings looking for the ones they stole.'

"After that we ended our review and left the studio. The carriage was waiting for us and had an added feature. Caturanga was waiting for us. He instructed the driver to head back to the hotel. Then he asked Bobby to summarize what he had found."

Myka interrupted, "Wait, you found those paintings. I remember them from a class I had on the Impressionists. They had the some jewelry in the paintings. Were they the ones from the Flexion job?"

"Quite so, when I explained what I had found I reached the same conclusion. Caturanga added that the jewelry in the paintings were really artifacts. The final theft was the last artifact shown in one of the paintings. It was a cane." Helena stopped as Myka interrupted again.

"So, was it Brigadier General Laverlong's Elephant Walking Stick?" she asked.

"Yes, the next stop was to be his vacation home. Caturanga said that the paintings were needed to confirm the items, especially the jewelry." Helena explained. She then went on, "I did add to our findings what I had learned about the pipe tobacco. It smelled familiar but I need an expert to tell me where to buy it in Paris. That's why we stopped at the Fair the previous night. I saw in the brochure for the Fair that McDougall's Pipe shop was included in the Fair. I visited with Mr. McDougall. He told me that the tobacco was a German blend of Virginian, Turkish and Latakia tobaccos. He had some for sale but hadn't sold any in a month. He did know of one other tobacconist in Paris that sold the blend. At first I thought this was too coincidental but the shop's name was Albrecht Pipe.

"When I announced what I had found, Caturanga took my hand and kissed it in appreciation. He said, 'My dear, you have found the piece we were looking for. We knew there was a link between the thefts and a few others that would include a method to transport goods back and forth from Germany and here. A tobacconist shop would be a perfect fit.' He motioned to the driver. We headed down another street, turning away from the hotel. Caturanga turned back to us, 'I have a few others here. We will be able to surveil the shop and determine our next step.'

Helena smiled at Claudia, "It was very similar to the set up you had around the Research Facility. They arranged to have a room in an apartment across the street from the shop. Caturanga set telescopes at each of the windows. We watched as his men monitored the shop. Late in the afternoon, they spotted a man with a beard and another with a pipe entering the shop. The man was carrying what Caturanga labeled as the 'Sight flash.'

"It was a rushed effort. Caturanga's men surrounded the shop. Bobby and I went in through the side door. I know that I got laughed at, but I forced Bobby to use those dark glasses I brought. As we entered the door, there was a flash and another in the front of the store.

"Bobby and I continued forwarded. Two men in back of the shop came forward with their guns out and firing at the front of the store. I used my stun gun to take down one of them and Bobby got the other. There was a rush from the front of the store as the bearded man came back and flashed the light at us. I in-turn shot him with my stun gun. The light did not affect us. Bobby got the man with the pipe. It clattered to the ground.

"Over the next week Caturanga stayed there until he was able to get the next link in the chain, the distributor in Germany." Helena smiled at Claudia, "As far as I can tell, you have been doing the same thing. As you told Myka, you're trying to link everything. Should you need any help, I am sure Myka and I would be glad to help." She nodded to her leg, "I don't think we'll be able to much else for a few days."

A/N Please leave a review.

**Caturanga's History Lesson**

Okay, a little art history, see Impressionists Edouard Manet and Claude Monet (see Wikipedia)

Next a little blending in tobacco, see Latakia tobacco (see Wikipedia)


	21. Chapter 21 Decorations

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 21—Decorations**

**The B&B**

Leena was out in the snow all bundled up. She was a bit devious today, but she was certainly grateful for the help. "Okay, no complaining. It's either help with the decorations or we go back to the Warehouse and do a little more cleaning." Her speech was directed at Pete and Steve.

Steve was working on the next set of lights trying to untangle the knots. Pete was on his way up the ladder. Pete agreed, "Okay, freezing snow is better than all that dust. But this is still pretty high." The ladder was positioned to decorate the steeple in the front of the B&B.

"Yeah, but you make a better target up there," Myka laughed as she threw another snowball at Pete and hit him in the rear. She got a high five from Helena.

Pete pushed some of the snow off the roof at them but it did not go very far. "Okay, no fair, no fair. Vanessa said you have to heal up."

"Yeah, maybe you could work on all these knots," Steve started and was met with snowball on his shoulder.

Helena smiled back. He was so much fun. "No, Sweet. I cannot stand right now and would just have a ball of lights on my lap."

Vanessa had agreed to come and check on everyone, especially after the events in New Jersey. Helena was now using a wheel chair and would for another day. Vanessa was concerned that the bone needed more time to heal before it had more pressure on it from standing or walking. Myka was not much better off. Her wound was still seeping a bit and the pain level was still pretty high. Vanessa had changed her bandages and told her to take it easy.

Currently Vanessa and Artie were back at the Warehouse. Claudia was at the Warehouse working on her programs and asked Vanessa to check some things she found. It gave Vanessa a chance to check her and Kato. She was happy that neither had any problems from the airplane crash.

But Steve was going to fix his problem. He started a snowball that was turning into a massive one. He rolled it on the ground and it was getting big.

Myka saw it. She was already poised with another snowball. "Truce?"

Steve looked up and knew he was going to lose, "Sure."

"No wait, don't break it. We can make it into a snow man," Myka smiled gleefully.

Pete grumbled at Steve as he went up further on the ladder, "Remember, do nothing that will make more work." He got another snowball for the comment.

"I heard that," Myka laughed at him.

"Okay, you win. But is someone going to hold the ladder?" Pete was holding on to the gutter.

The process of hanging the lights and moving the ladder took the afternoon. By dusk they were ready. Leena plugged in the cord to the porch's electrical outlet. She stood back. The lights shone brightly. Leena was quite proud of her crew. There were no injuries and all the lights worked.

Myka clapped and gave Pete and Steve a hug. "Thanks so much. Leena was right, it does help make it like home."

Helena smiled at the lights and the two snowmen Myka and her had finished. It was quite nice and brought back a few memories. Her eyes teared up a little.

Leena gave Pete and Steve a hug too. "Alright we got hot chocolate and Artie's cookies waiting for us. Come on."

Pete got Helena and wheeled her into the B&B and Myka and Steve followed.

Claudia and Kato pulled up to the B&B. The building was trimmed in color lights and there were two snowmen out front. The front door had a wreath with a pineapple in the center and red apples, holly and pine boughs in a circle. Once in the door Claudia could smell a new batch of cookies and saw the coats all hung by the door. She smiled when she saw Artie's coat and Vanessa's too.

The hall had Christmas decorations of Poinsettias and Holly. The China cabinet had Christmas dishes displayed with wreaths and pinecones. Leena started to cross the end of the hall with wrapped presents in her hands. Claudia raced down the hall and up to her room to get the presents she had for everyone.

Kato smiled and followed Leena. He had already taken care of that and was following the scent of fresh cookies. He wasn't surprised that Pete had the tray of cookies surrounded and crumbs down his chin. He asked, "You having a Merry Christmas?"

Pete smiled trying to contain the last cookie, "So she sprung you?"

"Yeah, she said she had her programs running and we had to get back." Kato answered.

"Well yeah, we are going to exchange gifts tonight," Myka responded from her position in the easy chair.

Kato smiled back, "Yeah, I know." He pointed to a stack of presents under the tree. "But she was so into her research, that…"

Claudia came in the room carrying her stack, "I did not. I remembered. I just had to get everything ready." Claudia went to the Christmas tree and placed her presents under the tree. There was a good collection.

Myka looked at her, "You're not going to spend all your time in the Warehouse are you?"

Claudia nudged Kato as he was going for a cookie, "No, we got it worked out. Kato is going to head home tomorrow. He arranged for a security detail with enough folks so they get some time off. And I'll have time to see Dwayne tomorrow night." She noticed Helena smile but not say anything. Helena was in the other chair with the footrest out. She seemed quiet.

Steve was going for the last cookie on the tray when Leena came around the corner with Artie and Vanessa. There was a small chorus of, "Dinner is ready."

Myka and Claudia helped Helena back into her wheel chair and wheeled her into the dinning room. She had the end of the table. Steve sat on her right and Pete on her left. Claudia sat next to Steve and then Kato was next. Rounding out the table was Leena, Vanessa, Artie and Myka. Myka sat next to Pete. The table was decorated with candles, holly and pine. Before they started Artie made the comment about his Dad and a Christmas before getting Claudia to say grace.

Claudia was not expecting that, but as she looked around the table she saw that everyone was waiting on her. "Okay, for us," she smiled, "Dear Lord our Father, blessed are you for keeping us safe and bringing us together at this time. Give us this day to remember and share the birth of Jesus. In your name, Amen."

The serving bowls and platters were passed around the table. Leena had made a small turkey and duck with all the trimmings. Everyone began talking and eating at the same time.

Artie listened to Vanessa explain to Myka, "Yes, the last attempt to go to Vegas was, well a good thing. Now Artie's dad likes to go there and have a little fun. So, Artie and I are going down to Atlanta. It will be a little warmer down there. Are you going home?"

"Oh yes, we are still working the details. Helena is coming with me. We'll spend some time at home and go to the Broadmoor for the day after Christmas special. They have a performance of the Academy Band that evening," Myka explained.

Vanessa looked over to Pete and got his attention, "So where are you going?"

"Home too, Mom has all the relatives coming the day after. It will be a big reunion. Some of the folks like Uncle Charlie and Aunt Eve; gee I haven't seen since I was a kid. It will be fun and better than last time," Pete responded.

Vanessa asked Artie, "So Claudia threw the Warehouse?"

"Yes, she is staying here. Steve and her brother are going to Aspen. She will join them when we get back. And even Leena is going to take a break. She is going home too." Artie finished.

Leena added, "I don't know if it is much of a break, five bothers and two sisters with twenty three nieces and nephews. I asked Pete. We'll have more people at the house than Pete will have at his reunion."

Claudia almost laughed at that. "Kato, how many people are going to your dinner?"

He laughed, "You know it's not really a dinner. And I don't know how many people will be there. It's a luau not a dinner. My brother said he already had four pigs ready and will start them tomorrow night. It will be a couple hundred people or more."

Claudia continued to notice Helena. She wasn't saying much. She got Myka's attention and then nodded to Helena with a question in her eyes. Myka shrugged and nodded that she agreed.

In a little they were all in the living room. Helena was back in the chair with the footrest and Myka was seated beside her in the comfy chair. Artie and Vanessa were across the room on the coach and the others were in chairs around the room.

Myka nodded at Claudia and turned to Helena. "So, before we open the presents, we did want one special present."

Claudia continued, "Yes, we'd like a story of your Christmas with Warehouse 12."

Helena blinked, "Yes of course, and pardon me. That's all I was thinking about. Since I have been back, I had not considered Christmas. The Christmases with Christina were all very precious. But being here did remind me of the night before Christmas soon after I joined Warehouse 12. Christina was with her grandmother that night. We had left the Warehouse early that day so I was able to be with her that afternoon. We played with her dolls and her tea set, making sure each of her friends got their tea on time. She was happy that I was going to party and promised she would go to bed and sleep the night through. The year before she kept getting up in the hope she could see Santa Claus. But that day she agreed to go to bed with a promise that I would wake her early the next day.

"I was dressing in in the guest room. Christina was helping with each of the bows. The dress was a red satin with bows that held holly leaves and berries. We were getting away from the big bustles by then. The dress was off-the-shoulder." Helena smiled at Pete and Kato, "So even by your standards today, it was something that a girl could use to her advantage." Her eyes twinkled. "My hair was gathered into a bun and I wore a nice white pearl necklace as an accent. Christine thought I looked like a princess."

"I had a carriage waiting for me and it was a short ride over to the Savoy Hotel. It had just opened that summer and Caturanga's interest and I must say mine was very high. It was the first building with complete electrical lighting, electrical lifts, and bathrooms with hot and cold water. We met one of the people who later became a manager of the hotel, a Mr. Ritz, and got a tour of the grander rooms.

"Getting back to the party it was much like this. We were treated to the Christmas trees in the lobby and halls. Large red ribbons and bows decorated all of the building. Our dinning room contained a large tree at the corner. There was a fireplace and mantle decorated much the same as the one we have here with pine branches, pinecones and red ribbons.

"Now the story for that Christmas night began when…"

A/N Please leave a review. Helena's story to be posted on Saturday.

**Caturanga's History Lesson**

A London Christmas 1889 (see A Victorian Christmas-Christmas Celebration, Google).

Evening dresses in 1889 (see Wikipedia).

Savoy Hotel with a little imagining (see Wikipedia).


	22. Chapter 22 Ol' Christmas

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 22—Ol' Christmas**

**The B&B**

"Now the story for that Christmas night began when Mr. Crowley came into the dinning room. He went over to Caturanga and gave him a paper. Even from across the room, I could tell that he became alarmed.

"The next thing I heard was Caturanga calling out, 'Agent MacShane and Wells please join me in the sitting room.' I was bit surprised about the turn of events. There were several other people there. We had twelve Agents at the dinner and that night several Regents were there. We also had what you might call Analysts at the party.

"Back at Warehouse 12, we were not as automated as Warehouse 13. As I explained to Claudia and Myka, we relied on the telegraph system to get reports of suspicious activity that could be related to artifacts. We received all the major newspapers and influential magazines. All of the Agents and then the Analysts went through those documents to identify something we called a Curiosity, you now call a Ping.

"I should also say that Caturanga was our Caretaker and Mr. Crowley had Artie's job. Agent Bobby MacShane was my partner at the time.

"I met Bobby and Caturanga in a smaller room off the dinning room. While the room was suitably decorated in Christmas cheer, Caturanga's appearance was not. He motioned us to have a seat and began, 'Two of our trusted couriers were intercepted at the train station and their package, called the 2:11 Artifact, was taken. The report does not describe the thieves other than say one held back but seemed to be in charge and the other was a young ruffian.'

"I realized then that those involved in the theft of Helen of Troy's Bracelet were back again.

"Caturanga acknowledged that, 'Yes, they are very likely the individuals you dealt with before. The woman involved is a Countess and has ties to Wilhelm II. She was released after the last incident, as we had no method to bring her to justice. The Regents believe they have corrected that. For this case you are to recover the artifact and if possible collect evidence to implicate the Countess. And it must be done by tomorrow morning.'

"He held out a pair of keys and said, 'We arranged to place a change of clothes and your working implements in these rooms. A carriage, manned with Coldstream Guards, is waiting for you.'

"I am sure he knew. Henry, my first love and husband, was a lieutenant in the Coldstream Guards. They had been immensely helpful after his death at the battle of El Obeid. I knew we could rely on them for help in this case.

"I started to my room and noticed a variety of parties being held at the hotel. One was a reception for the new Ambassador from Germany. I went to my room and changed into my pants, blouse, vest and cape. I must say that the cape was nice. As you do with your SIGs, placing a weapon in small of your back effectively hides it. Caturanga provided a few aids with a note, 'Speed in this case is of up most importance. Use these at your discretion.' Included in the kit were Helen's bracelet and the four missing rings from the Flexion safe.

"I got to the front and found our trusty Guards waiting for us. I was not a little surprised to see several carriages and even the new automobiles lined up at the hotel. It was a busy night. Bobby and I quickly took our seats in the carriage. Four mounted Guards took their positions in front of the carriage and two followed. It was quite a procession.

"We reached Charing Cross Rail Station in very little time. The two couriers were waiting there. We went to talk with them. Bobby introduced us and asked, 'What exactly happened?'

"The courier named Jonsey answered, 'Well sir, we were just leaving the station and this young ruffian walks up behind us and puts a gun to both of our backs. We were asked to turn around and see that it wasn't just the ruffian but another who had two guns out and pointed at us. The one behind, who sounded more like a lady, says to turn over the shipment or we are dead. There was no one else around and nothing we could do but hand it over. We gave them the case. We were told to turn around and they struck us over the head.'

"Bobby asked, 'Did you notice anything about them or any horses or carriages when you came out of the station?'

"Jonsey nodded, 'It was too dark to really see their faces. But there was one of those new automobiles by the road. It seemed peculiar. There was no one with it.'

"I did have to asked, 'We believe we may have run into these culprits once before. Did you happen to notice anything about their clothes?'

"Jonsey shrugged, 'Well ma'am, it was a bit odd. The ruffian was wearing a common round toe boot or shoe and the other a narrow pointed shoe. If it was a lady, it must have been some riding boot or such.'

"At that point I only had one other question. I asked, 'So, they took the case. Had you looked in side to verify the contents? And just what was in the case?"

"Jonsey looked at the other man and must have decided to answer, 'There were three boxes. All three were very old looking. One was round, one a square and the other was multi-sided. We were told that we could not touch them.'

"The other man added, 'They were a part of the William and Mary collection on loan to the Notre Dame Cathedral. The boxes are rumored to force another nation to the peace table and to agree with the conditions the holder desired.'

"I was worried that we might have missed our chance. I said to Bobby, 'We have to get back to the hotel. We are going to invite ourselves to a party.'

"Bobby looked at me like I was touched, 'We were at a party. What?'

"I took his hand and said, 'I'll need you to cover me and I must have a suitable escort.' As soon as we got out to the curb again, I saw the Lieutenant waiting for us. I went to him. Using the biggest smile I could muster, I asked, 'Lieutenant, could you escort me to a party? This is of great importance. I believe the thieves are at the party or will be seeing the honored guest of the party. And I need you in your formal attire. Is that possible?'

"His eyes got big. For a second I was not sure that he would answer or was capable of answering. Finally after a nudge from his Sergeant, he said, 'Be happy to ma'am. I'll need to leave you with my men and then meet you at the hotel.' He looked at his watch, 'In say an hour?'

"I replied, 'Certainly, and I'll have a few things for you. Please meet me at my room, it is number 505.' I looked at Bobby, 'I have something for you too. So when we get back, change and then meet me at my room.'

"It was a fast trip back to the hotel. I put my dress together and bows as best I could. After I fixed my hair and got my necklace back on, I took out a pair of long gloves from the kit that Caturanga left.

"The first knock on the door was Bobby and the Lieutenant. I was pleased. I told them and explained to the Lieutenant, 'Caturanga left us a few articles to use and I have a few of mine. First, we are back to these dark glasses. These will keep some unwanted light from your eyes. Next, I will be using a special bracelet. It could make you do things based on hearing my voice. While I will try not to speak much, at least to either of you, wear these earplugs. They may keep the affects to a minimum.'

"Bobby was amazed. He asked, 'Did Caturanga…'

"At that moment Caturanga appeared at the door. He answered, 'Yes, you'll need them. And I did get the invitations. We must get this done before the Ambassador is given the boxes and begins to direct our negotiations to their favor.' He gave the Lieutenant and Bobby a card to present at the party. 'Now, the rings have an optical effect. Looking at them too long will basically hypnotize the target. After being hypnotized they will do as you request. Attempt to get the Countess and her accomplice in a separate room. Then we will help them lead us to the boxes.'

"We were ready to leave. I held up the bracelet before I put it on and said, 'Remember, your job is to get me to her. I will attempt not to speak until we get to the Countess.'

"We went down to the party with all dispatch. There was no problem getting in. The reception line was still moving rather fast which was to our advantage. I slipped through without saying a word.

"Bobby took a position by an exit in the back and Caturanga was circulating. He seemed to fit in very well. The Lieutenant and I began a circle around the party room trying to find the Countess. About three quarters of the way I spotted her. She was sitting with several gentlemen two were younger. While I had not seen the ruffian, by their demeanor I assumed one of them was the accomplice.

"I must say it was an act, but I still think it was my best. I went up to them and said, 'Oh, I just love you all. Isn't this a Merry Christmas?' I saw that they all turned their heads and stared at me. Initially it was a stare, and then it changed. They were infatuated. I continued as I wanted her to follow my lead, 'It is such a lovely night. And my lady, what is your name? You seem to brighten my night.'

"She stepped up to me and answered quickly, 'I am the Countess Montez and you certainly are the lovely one. I do love your festive dress.' She moved to take my hand. I let her take the one with the rings and held them so that she would get a good long look at them. Her eyes became a bit unfocused for a second.

"I looked back at the two young men and said, 'Why don't you join us? I'm sure we could find a room that would be more merry.' They got up and followed the Countess and I. The Lieutenant came up behind us. We went to the exit where Bobby was standing. He nodded and followed us into the next room. At that point I told them to take a seat and handcuffed the Countess and the young men. Once they were secure I took off the bracelet and the rings did their job. We found that both young men were in the Countess' employ. One did the job at the York museum and other was at Charing Cross. The boxes were in her room in one of her trunks. Bobby went to get those and the Coldstream Guards escorted him back to the Warehouse.

"We turned the Countess and the two men over to an Inspector from Scotland Yard. I noticed that the Lieutenant seemed to be at a loss and I invited him to join us at the Warehouse party. It was a wonderful night.

"The next day was a splendid Christmas with Christina."

A/N Please leave a review. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Next update on 3 January 2012.

**Caturanga's History Lesson**

A London Christmas 1889 (see A Victorian Christmas-Christmas Celebration, Google).

Evening dresses in 1889 (see Wikipedia).

Savoy Hotel with a little imagining (see Wikipedia).

Coldstream Guards in this imagining would have been the parent unit of Helena's husband (see Wikipedia).


	23. Chapter 23  Interrogation

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 23-Interrogation**

**The B&B**

Leena had breakfast ready and everyone was coming to the table. Pete looked over at Claudia and Steve, "Heard you guys come in last night."

Claudia responded, "Sorry, we tried to not wake anyone. It was a long day. We got in a few runs in the morning, which was really sweet. But then we had some weather delays getting back." She turned over to Myka, "That was a lot of fun having you come up. Your dad was amazing."

"Yeah well, he's always liked the outdoors. We used to go skiing quite a bit. It was the one thing Dad set aside for a family event. Dad always liked cross-country. He has a fabulous collection of wildlife pictures from his little trips on some of the back trails. He still brags that one of the pictures was a jackalope." Myka smiled at the memory.

Pete bumped her shoulder, "I didn't know you were a snow bunny."

"Hey there, side still hurts a little," she heard him say sorry. "I didn't spend all my time in books. We got to do a little skiing."

"Okay, okay." Pete got another bite and still managed to get out, "So, what's up for today?" He blinked and looked at Claudia, "We've not doing maid service again?"

Claudia smiled, "No, at least not for me. I fixed the air conditioning system to act as a big vacuum. I was able to get most of the dust, at least enough of it so my sinuses are not stopped up." She smiled at Helena, "I can smell the apples again." Helena smiled back.

Artie looked up from his plate, "Well, so far…"

Claudia shook her head. It always happened. She held up her Farnsworth, "Looks like we got a Ping." She saw Artie grimace, "Don't worry, I'll fix yours so you get it too. You just have to let me have it for an afternoon." She squinted her eyes at him. "Here Artie, a late Christmas present just for you." She reached down and got a case and put it on the table. "See you open it like this and push this button and it magically turns on."

He was bushing her away when the laptop came on and the windows opened to show the details of the Ping. He saw the display and the header, "Oh no." He adjusted his glasses and started reading the screen. "Three offices and two warehouses were burned last night. Each started with burn pattern suggesting a flamethrower was used. But DoD claims all of their equipment is accounted for."

Pete chipped in, "Yeah, they use a two man control on that kind of equipment. It would be pretty hard to lose one. And breaking into an armory would be pretty hard too."

Artie turned the screen around so Pete could see, "Does that look like the pattern of a flamethrower?"

"Oh yeah, the trail on burn marks gives it away." He pointed to the bottom of the picture. "They did that to each of the buildings?"

"That's what it says." Artie concluded.

"Artie, so why is this ours? Somebody…" Steve started to ask.

Myka and Pete looked at each other and smiled. They knew better. Artie launched out, "If there is no flamethrower, and Pete agrees the DoD claim is likely right, but we have the marks of one, then…"

"Right, an artifact," Steve acknowledged.

Artie surveyed his crew. Helena had crutches this morning. Myka's side still hurt. He knew Claudia expected a report today from Mr. Kosan and the expert on the pane crash. He'd just had Steve and Pete go out. "I'll take this one." He started reading the rest of he report.

By then Claudia had her laptop open, "No Artie, take Steve with you." She then nudged Steve, "Watch out for him." She got Kato looking at her and winked. His head nodded ever so slightly.

Artie wasn't quite done with that. He looked at her and lowered his glasses, "Miss Donovan?"

Claudia smiled and nodded, "Yes, Arthur. It's got to be tied together. Same as it's got to be an artifact." She made a couple quick entries on her laptop.

Artie grumbled. He nodded and got up. "Okay, okay. Let's go."

Leena added, "Tickets will be at the counter."

Myka went over and looked over Claudia's shoulder. She read the display and looked up, "Pete, you ought to go on this one too. Two of the buildings were at Marine bases. You'd be able to fit in."

"Well, once a Marine, always a Marine," Pete saluted.

Artie shrugged, "Come on."

Pete grabbed the last doughnut and bounded out the door.

Kato had his phone in his ear and walked out of the room as he coordinated a little extra protection. He gave Claudia thumbs up as he went.

Claudia kept working at the laptop in between sips of coffee. She sent of several queries and linked the new information to her programs. She paused for a second and looked at Myka and Helena.

Helena noticed, "What Darling?"

Claudia cocked her head, "Well, I am still waiting for this to spit out the results but I think I know what they will be. There was more behind your Countess Montez, than just her desire, wasn't there?"

"Certainly, but it took quite a bit to ferreted it out. I learned from our afternoon chess games that after the Countess had been turned over to Scotland Yard, Caturanga visited her at few times. She was not forthcoming. I went with him the last time.

"Turns out the bracelet has a lingering effect and the rings can be most persuasive. Caturanga was positive she had a contact. He also believed that while some information pointed directly at Wilhelm II, someone else was behind the thieves in Paris and the Countess. The trail of the pipe shop and its supplier had been a death end.

"We agreed that I would use a glove with the bracelet on top. Once in the room with the Countess, I would remove the glove and the bracelet would come in contact with my skin. Caturanga would stay out of the room and use earplugs. I was to get the information.

"Well, we were welcomed into the Scotland Yard without any problem. Inspector Roberts had been Caturanga's main contact. He provided quick access and after conferring with Caturanga agreed with our plan to let me interrogate the Countess.

"I walked into the room with my gloves off. I started immediately saying, 'My poor dear, are they taking care of you? Do you need anything? Please sit and we can talk about anything you wish.'

"By the time she sat down the bracelet had taken effect. She was enthralled that I was there again with her. She began, 'Oh, you're the one with the lovely dress. I do wish we could be away from here and at the party once again. We could do so much.' I could see her eyes pleading with me to take her away.

"I knew I had to complete this quickly or the bracelet could overtake us both. I asked, 'Dear Countess, can you tell me about the boxes in your room and who told you about them?'

"She looked at me like I had said something in a language that was incomprehensible. I held out my hand to her and she was quick to take it. I asked again, 'Was there someone who told you to get the boxes at the train station? Do you know what the boxes can do?'

"Her answer began to surprise me, 'Oh my love, of course, they begin peace. Only you can be more beautiful than that.' I tried to take my hand back but she held it firmly."

Helena saw the smirk on Claudia's lips. "Don't you start laughing at this. I was quite amazed. She was becoming… Well I infatuated her. I was there desperately trying to get information and I was positive that I had something else.

"I could think of nothing else to do but use the rings. After two attempts to get her to look at my hand and not my face, I took her hand and brought it to my lips. She was entranced at that point and easily shifted her attention to my hand holding hers. The rings did their job and hypnotized her.

"I started with a simple question or at least I thought it was, 'What is your name?'

"She smiled at me and answered, 'I am Katherine Louise Hollweg.'

"I continued on the name, 'Is Countess Montez a real name?'

"She looked at me like I had made a nonsensical statement. I asked again, 'Is Countess Montez your name?'

"She answered, 'Yes, I am also Countess Montez. My husband, the Count, died rather conveniently two years ago.'

"Then I asked, 'Who gave you the information about the boxes at the train station?'

"Her answer was simple, 'My brother.'

A/N Please leave a review. Planning to update once a week now.


	24. Chapter 24 Pursuit

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 24-Pursuit**

**The B&B**

Helena was at the dinning room table with Claudia and Myka. Myka was wondering about what Helena just finished telling them. Helena's interrogation of the Countess Montez resulted in the Countess revealing that her real name was Katherine Louise Hollweg and that her brother gave her the information at the train station. She squinted her knowing look and asked, "Wasn't Hollweg the Chancellor of Germany during the First World War?

Helena thought about that, "Yes, Theobald Hollweg was the Chancellor of Germany back in 1909." She paused, "I remember reading some about the Great War. That was awful, so many died. That young Lieutenant from the Christmas party was still in the military then. I read that officers of his unit were all killed in the war." She shook her head.

Helena continued, "I don't know if the Countess and Theobald were related. The Countess explained that the brother had changed his name to Hedwig. We had heard of the brother. He was a ruthless man. He was attempting to overthrow Bismarck at the time and seize control of Germany. We had heard of his exploits and at least once before our agents obtained an artifact from one of his minions.

"When I heard the name, I asked her to excuse me and went out to Caturanga. He was truly upset. He explained that the pieces were falling into place. Hedwig and his men was the next target of one of our teams. Our team, Sir John and Headley, had just retrieved the Magi boxes. They were to retrieve an artifact, which the Regents believed was in the possession of Hedwig. They would have known about our couriers. Caturanga had not heard from our team since before Christmas.

"Caturanga looked at me and said, 'We need as much information as you can get from her. I can only hope there is some chance that Sir John and Headley are safe. Any information on where Hedwig or his men were, could be valuable.' He looked at the bracelet I was holding with my glove. 'Do remember that the bracelet may have an affect on you. Come out at regular intervals and let me know what you have found.'

"I tried as best I could that afternoon to ply as much information as I could from the good Countess. I was only able to use the rings during the last session. In the others she evaded them. The bracelet did its job. She certainly showed her affections. Caturanga was right I was only able to get through and not become so enthrall that, well… I did my job and got the information.

"Hedwig and his men had been using a townhouse only a few blocks away from Charing Cross. As soon as I found out, I told Caturanga. He arranged to have Bobby and Mr. Crowley meet us there. On our way from the interrogation room, Caturanga was able to get Inspector Roberts interest. He got three men and came with us.

"Caturanga and I got in his automobile and the men from Scotland Yard had a wagon. They followed us as we went down the road.

"Our forces combined with Bobby and Mr. Crowley before the house in question. The men from Scotland Yard battered the door until it opened. With our weapons drawn we entered the house. One of the men from Scotland Yard was hit immediately from the shots fired by Hedwig's two men. Our return fire was effective. When the shooting stopped we found the two men slumped over with multiple gunshot wounds.

"We split up at that point and began to search the house. I went with Bobby up to the bedrooms. We found Sir John and Headley. They were tied to chairs in one of the bedrooms. Their heads were slumped over. As we moved closer to them, it became obvious they were dead. From the smell of the room and the implements including a syringe on the table next to them, it appeared as through they were given opium of some kind.

"We let the Inspector and his men take over the scene as we went about the house looking for some clue about Hedwig. Caturanga was in the study with Mr. Crowley. When I came into the room Caturanga pointed to the ashes on the desk. I checked and they were the same as those back in Paris.

"Yes, we did catch the pipe smoker back then, but it did appear that Hedwig smoked the same blend. The bookcase was bare and there were only a few papers around the room. I watched as Caturanga picked up one of the blank sheets of paper from the desk and began to examine it. He held it to the light and then looked over the surface. Taking a little of the ashes in his fingers, he wiped them quickly over the paper.

"He smiled, 'Ah yes, seems to work. A letter addressed to Count Zweig at the German embassy.' He nodded, 'Right the new ambassador. Seems to indicate Mr. Hedwig knew of the boxes and was offering them as a way for the Ambassador to make a good first impression. Hedwig expects payment in person at this address in Lucerne.'

"Mr. Crowley turned and pointed at Bobby and I. He said, 'Do you wish them to go and make an inquiry at the address?'

Caturanga continued to look at the paper and answered, 'No, this is something I will handle. An old friend will certainly offer a hand.'

"The next day we found that Caturanga had left. He left me a note saying that we would have to postpone our afternoon game. But he did ask that I stop into to see the Countess and see if she knew of the Lucerne address.

"Once again I obtained the information, but was surprised that day. As I was leaving Inspector Roberts received a letter authorizing him to release the Countess. An exchange had been established through the German Embassy. The Countess was being released so that we could get back a Navy Captain. We claimed he was lost at sea. The Germans had accused him of being a spy. Inspector Roberts released her to a man from the Embassy.

"To me, it seemed to convenient. I decided to follow the couple. I passed a note to Inspector Roberts as I left. It asked him to notify Mr. Crowley. I was on the street and could see the clock tower at Westminster. Big Ben was ringing it was noon.

"The Countess and her escort got into a carriage that appeared to be from the Embassy. It was outfitted with the German Imperial Coat of Arms. I had Caturanga's automobile and tried as best I could not to attract too much attention as I followed the carriage. They went to Charing Cross. The Countess got out of the carriage and entered the terminal. Fortunately I found a suitable parking place and left the car. When I got into the terminal, I saw the Countess at one of the ticket counters and her escort rapidly approaching her. I stayed in back of one of the columns and watched as they got the tickets and moved away. Not thinking there was much time, I went to the same ticket counter. I convinced the clerk that I needed to accompany the Countess and got a set of tickets. Her destination was Paris with a change to another train going to Lucerne.

"Seeing that I had twenty minutes before the train left, I sent several telegraph messages. I had to arrange for Christina and informed Caturanga and Crowley of my intentions.

"I got on the train and went to one of the first class cabins. It was in the same car as the Countess and a few doors down from hers. I knew I was playing cat and mouse, but attempted to remain discrete and had a meal in my room. Switching to the ferry became a real chore. I was able to ensure they boarded but continued to keep my distance and my presence a mystery.

"Again we switched to a train at Calais. Knowing that we would be traveling the next day to Lucerne, I did send a message to the Grand Hotel Terminus requesting a room for the night. When we got to the station in Paris, I watched as they went to the hotel lobby and got rooms for the night. I lingered behind and easily got a room.

"The next morning I woke to messages from Charles, Caturanga and Mr. Crowley. Charles confirmed that everything was fine. They would take care of Christina. Mr. Crowley was rather abrupt in his reply saying to take action from Caturanga's direction. And Caturanga gave me the information and directions to where he was staying. Hedwig had not made an appearance yet. He told me to come directly to the residence he was using.

"When we got to the train station, I went quickly ahead and got a carriage. I was able to see the Countess as she came out of the station and her escort signaled the carriage waiting for them.

"When I got to Caturanga's residence, he took my arm and walked with me to the window over looking another building below. He said, 'You are just in time to see the Countess. She just got to the residence of Mr. Hedwig. I believe she and her escort will have a short wait for Mr. Hedwig. You see, he is Hedwig."

A/N Please leave a review. Planning to update once a week now.

**Caturanga's History Lesson**

Theobald Hollweg became the Chancellor of Germany in 1909. A little imagining based on his involvement with the Hindu German Conspiracy, which later attempted a rebellion against the British Raj. (See Wikipedia)

Timing and Scotland Yard. I did not find the exact dates, but the New Scotland Yard would have been used by this time. The police headquarters was moved there in 1890. (See Wikipedia).

Big Ben and Westminster (see Wikipedia)


	25. Chapter 25 Disguise

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 25—Disguise**

**The B&B**

Claudia and Myka asked at the same time, "You didn't know?" They were wondering how Helena could have missed that the Countess' escort was her brother.

Helena shook her head, "No we did not have a picture of him. I found out later that Caturanga had met him before. And so did his friend. But I had no idea, and no, they did not look like they were even in the same family, "

Claudia was next, "Who was the friend?"

"I was a bit surprised. He was a contemporary of mine, an author, Rudyard Kipling. And I must say, he was rather dashing. He had just been received in London. I did see him at one of the parties I attended with my brother and Arthur Conan Doyle. Kipling was amazing. After this venture he became the youngest Regent of the time, but that's another story." Helena paused as she saw the interest in the two. "Yes?"

"Well, his life is fairly well documented. Are you saying…" Myka began.

Helena smiled, "And before you found all these wonders, you were firmly convince that H.G. Wells was?"

Myka nodded and smiled, "Yes, of course."

Claudia chimed in, "Wait that's who Joe Kipling was?" She remembered going through the old files and reading the descriptions, almost resumes, of the previous agents and regents.

Helena smiled now as she recollected her memories, "Yes, that was what Caturanga called him, Joe. There were times when I did not realize who he was talking to." She looked back at Myka and Claudia, "Yes well, Caturanga and Joe were at the window looking at the house below. The Countess and her brother went into the house. Caturanga looked at me. He said, 'Well Miss Wells, I should hope you brought the bracelet and rings with you. I think we'll have need of them. As you can see,' he pointed to various places around the house, 'they have a sizeable guard to protect themselves. We can't forcibly go into their residence without the agreement of the local magistrate. And we need a little more to implicate the brother under Swiss laws. Joe has suggested that their records of trading between here and various external sources may provide enough evidence for the Swiss to take them into custody. That in turn would allow us to determine whether they have some artifacts we have been looking for over the past ten years and their location.' He tuned back to me.

"I was a little surprised. I asked, 'Shouldn't we be able to get into their residence and find them?'

"He looked at me knowingly, 'Yes of course, that was the first course of action. Joe here was rather nimble and was able to complete a rather throughout search but I am afraid we still are lacking the pieces. There is an opportunity to finish this. We arranged to have the Countess invited to the Mayor's reception tonight. We expect that she will go with her brother. We have tickets for you and Joe.'

"I backed a little and said, 'But they'll certainly know who I am. Don't you just want to go through their house again? I could do that.'

"He shook his head and said, 'No Miss Wells, we have some special things for you which will help with your appearance and clear the way. I should think you will consider this to be quite enjoyable. Your, shall I say disguise, is not permanent. It should last for about a day, which will be long enough for us to find what we are looking for. This time we will need you to entertain the brother and sister long enough for a clumsy old man to get your report and search their house. Of course, if the bracelet allows you to get further information on their intentions, it would be most useful. And if they allow you to use the rings, please question them to your best ability. The main artifact we are after is one that Joe has been searching for. He has been after this one for quite sometime. It is a pickaxe of Kali.' He showed me a picture of it."

"Wait," started Myka.

"Yes, that can't be right. Can it?" Claudia looked at Myka. "Did the, what poem, talk about?"

Myka shook her head, "Helena, Rudyard Kipling was looking for a pickaxe of Kali. What was it based on?"

"I don't remember seeing it in the Warehouse or any the inventories I have done," Claudia shook her head.

"Well, really that is a part of the story. Yes, there were three artifacts. The pickaxe was one of them. This particular axe was from a murderous sect that operated in north India. The artifact was purported to cause uprisings and war. The second artifact was a stone with a snake wrapped around it. It was a kind of snakestone with the effect of healing. Next was the torch from Persepolis. It could burn any building to the ground by day's end." She looked at them. "I'm sure you have a question."

Myka smiled, "Yeah well, it's more like you'll have a few questions. We'll make it a day with the classics." She looked at Claudia and got a smiled back. "Tonight is movie night. We need you to catch up. But please continue the story."

"Yes, please," added Claudia.

"As you wish. Caturanga held the picture of the pickaxe and then explain the other objects as I just did for you. He asked if I had any questions. I looked back at him lost in the number of questions there were. Finally I asked the simple one, 'When is the party?'

"I got my answer as we moved to another room. Caturanga pointed at the dress hung by the dressing mirrors. He said, 'Your dress and apparel. Ah yes, here is your new makeup kit. It is the only thing we know that survived from Warehouse 2. Cleopatra's make up kit will truly allow you to make yourself over into a new you. Joe and I will await your artistry.'

"I looked at him believing this might work, but there were so many questions. I shook my head and said, 'Certainly, even with the best of make up, she'll know that I am behind it?'

"Caturanga smiled, 'Well, that certainly would be a possibility, but you'll have a few things working for you. The makeup kit can be very persuasive in developing a new face or look. Even though you might see through it, the makeup will project a different persona. And, the bracelet can have quite an effect of its own. With her already enticed by it, she will likely not give one care as to who the wearer really is, only that she can once more provide whatever she can to the wearer.'

"It made me shiver at the thought of wearing the bracelet. I looked at the dress and turned with another question, 'But surely, when she comes in contact with the bracelet again, she'll know it's the bracelet?'

"Caturanga shook his head, 'She will not be able to resist it. Or in this case you.' He raised an eyebrow and left the room.

"I must say that I was drawn to the dress. It did give me the spark I needed. It was an aqua green almost teal silk with embossed symbols of Greek architecture. It was a little on the risqué side for its time. While there were shoulder straps, the front was open and the lace of my undergarment would definitely be revealed. I saw that the back was open too, and was uncertain as to how low it would actually go. I opened the makeup kit and had to study it for a while. The first choice present by the kit was to decide the hair color. I decided to match the dress with a dark auburn color in my hair. I was amazed by the application. While I took a bath, I colored my hair and the color flowed to every strand. My eyebrows matched and to my delight, my eyes turned to a dark green. I noticed the light tan I had on my arms now took a freckled aspect. I curled my hair and braided it so the length would curl and rest on my right shoulder. But I must say the most surprising thing was the change in the bracelet. When I touched it, the bracelet turned to a gold and bronze shade versus the silver it had been before. The jewelry I added also had the same shade. When I returned to the makeup kit I began to apply the powder and rouge to my face. Next was the eye shading and highlighting. Finally, the facial makeup was complete and lip-gloss made the difference. My lips were a bold and dark red, while the touches around my eyes could draw in any suitor.

"I stood and looked at myself several times. It was not obvious to me that I was completely hidden. It was not a disguise with a mustache and fake nose. It was me, but a different me. But I must say it was splendid.

"Caturanga and Joe provided the final proofs. When I came out, both immediately stood up. Caturanga's eyes were glazed. He said, 'My dear, you look like the statue from the greats. Beauty is lost in you and your eyes. Very apt, a beguiling disguise.'

"Poor Joe stood there with his mouth agape. I pointed to the bracelet, which I had managed to move up my arm to an armband, and crossed my lips. They nodded their understanding and Joe held out his arm. I did have my own present for Joe. A pair of earplugs.

A/N Please leave a review.

Caturanga History Lesson

A little imaging, seem Kipling would make an excellent Regent. And did travel to Liverpool in late 1889. (see Wikipedia)

Okay a little more imaging. The pickaxe is in fact from the movie, Gunga Din, not the poem (see Google for both). The snake and stone could be a snakestone, hey its Warehouse 12. (see Wikipedia). Then, thought we needed something from Alexander the Great, (see , Alexander Sacks Persepolis).


	26. Chapter 26 Search

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13.

**Chapter 26-Search**

**The B&B**

Helena smiled at Myka and put her fingers to her ears. "You remember. With the earplugs it was harder to hear my voice and become captivated by the bracelet, now arm band. Well, I gave them to Joe. Although I must admit, I was intrigued by the young man and contemplated using them." She smiled and winked at Claudia. "But it was not something for that night.

"I nodded at Caturanga and Joe. Joe escorted me to the carriage and we went to the reception. It was held at a very ornate hall with a large patio by the lake. A valet took the carriage and I took Joe's arm as we entered the hall. The furnishings in the lobby were very detailed woodwork with inlaid gold. There were screens of deer, bear and other animals along with men with bows and arrows. Then there were screens of various castles. We joined the line leading to the main room. After giving our compliments to the mayor, we began looking for my target.

"It did seem as though many people of the town were there but there was an overcrowding of dignitaries and visitors. Our system for finding the Countess was rather elaborate. We were on a frequent basis confronted with someone who wished to be introduced. Joe would take off his glasses when meeting someone and thereby got one of the earplugs out. He generally took out the earplug on the side opposite where I was standing. I attempted to keep my part of the conversations to an absolute minimum. I must say I turned a few heads in my outfit and likely drew for interest than we wanted. Even before I began to talk, I had the full attention of most gentlemen we met. I was relieved that I did not develop a great following, although poor Joe was starting to hang on me. He was still a perfect gentleman but I could tell the bracelet was getting to him.

"We rounded the room twice before we saw her. She was looking out at the lake at the time. Her brother was not with her. I began talking before we approached her. I could tell she heard my voice as she turned to search me out. As I came up to her I took her hands and said, 'You certainly look lovely tonight. I am so glad to see you again. We still need to talk about much more.'

"At that point she embraced me and whispered in my ear, 'Yes, my lovely. I have been hardly thinking of another thing. Anything that you want is my command.' She held me back a bit and looked at me.

"I kept talking, 'Dear, it was quite a ride to find you, all the way through Paris and now to find you at this party. This party certainly brings out the best in you. You look radiant.'

"She pulled me to her again. Holding me tight, she said, 'You are so beautiful. Your face and eyes hold me captive. We must leave before my brother gets back. I cannot lose you to him. He is quite revengeful and will conclude that you are the one that held me back in Britain.'

"As I took a step back, her brother entered through one of the glass doors leading out to the patio. He said to her as he came up, 'I was able to conclude the deal. The shipment is on its way. So, who is this amazing lady?'

"I started to talk and use the bracelet as best I could. The Countess continued to hold my arm and pressed to get me away. But the brother was becoming enthralled. The bracelet was working on him. Joe nodded to the patio and I agreed. We were starting to draw some unneeded attention. I said, 'I would love to get some air. This is getting a little stuffy in here.'

Helena smiled, "Yes, back then was very different than now. Most of the gentlemen had a cigar or pipe back then. A few of used cigarettes, but not many. The result was that after an hour, the hall began to fill up with smoke. Fortunately it was a nice night out and they had started opening the doors from the hall to the patio. The Countess already had my arm and followed me out.

"She whispered again in my ear, 'Please, I do need to get you away.'

"At that point the brother must have heard her. He pulled out one of those small Colt Derringers and pointed it at me. He said, 'I do know you and the effect you are having on my sister. We tried…'

"By then I had slid my hand up to cover his hand and the gun. It was a reckless move, but it brought the rings into view. He did not get pass his last words. I had him. I told him to put the gun away and the Countess pulled at my arm.

"She said, 'I know just the place were we can go. We can put him to the side where he won't hurt anyone and then…'

"I agreed, trying to get more information from them at the party was not going to work. We only had to make sure it was not back to Hedwig's residence. I turned to the Countess, 'Certainly, I would love to be somewhere together.' Then I looked around at Joe and he nodded.

"We went out and got the carriage. It was big enough for all of us. I stayed in back to ensure that Hedwig was still hypnotized by the rings. I talked as we went and the Countess pointed the way to a small house on the backside of Lucerne. The house had two rooms off the main living room. We put Hedwig in one of the rooms. Joe searched him and pulled out the Derringer and a couple of knives. I put handcuffs on him and secured him to a large chair. We could not keep the Countess away. She followed me everywhere. So I took her to the next room and left Joe with Hedwig.

"A while later I had left the Countess asleep in the other room. Joe came in the room and nodded, 'I finally got it. He gave me the information on the location. The artifacts are in their house. There is a wall on the west side by the fireplace. It is a false wall and leads into another room. The artifacts and their plan are hidden there. We have to let Caturanga know.'

"I looked at him for a second and said, 'We can take them with us. Just like before, we'll put them in the carriage and head back.'

"Joe nodded, 'Certainly, leaving them behind, even with one of us as a guard, would not work. I should think that their friends would be looking for them. The men at the house are formidable. They probably saw us leave. I think the Countess let them know it was okay when we left the reception in the carriage. But we have been awhile. It would be good if we could keep appearances. As a matter of fact on the way back we must make it look like we are partying with them.'

"It was quite a procession. We woke the Countess. I convinced her that we were headed to another party and she was ready to go. She held my hand as we put her in the carriage. Joe went back and led Hedwig to the carriage. We hid his hands under a blanket and then took our positions. I was in the back with the Countess. She held one of my hands and in the other I held my stun gun. It was pointed at Hedwig.

"We had to go near the reception hall on the way back. As we got closer Joe pointed, 'Hedwig's men are off to our right.'

"I said, 'Wave.' It was almost in unison. Hedwig waved at his men and so did the Countess. I even found Joe was waving. Hedwig's men smiled and waved back. It was working. We made it passed the men and the hall.

"Going just a little further we came to Caturanga's residence. He was out to meet us along with several other men. As soon as we had our charges in their care, I took the bracelet off. Even then, it did not seem to make any change in the Countess. She took my hand and kissed it before she was led away.

"I went to Caturanga. He was standing by a table in the study with Joe. Joe was pointing to the map. He said, 'It must be this wall. From your outside measurements, there is enough space here for a room of some type.'

Caturanga replied, 'We must be careful. There will likely be traps in the design.'

"I pointed to the outside wall and observed, 'It should be easy to use a small charge and blow a hole in the wall. We should be able to mold a piece of gelignite to the corner and make a big enough hole to get through.'

Caturanga smiled, 'Quite right, good point. We'll do that. We'll need to move quickly. The guards you passed by the hall will be coming back soon. We have neutralized the other guards.'

"I looked at him and he explained, 'We used a magnified stun gun.' He looked to a weapon on the other side of the room." Helena turned to Claudia, "It was similar to your current grenade launchers and the grenade was very much like your Tesla grenade.

"I walked back to the window and confirmed that the guards were asleep at their posts. Caturanga motioned and the two of us followed out of the building. We went over the back hill and down to Hedwig's property. Caturanga opened his bag and held out the gelignite. I took it and went to the wall. It molded easily to the corner of the wall. I held out my hand and Caturanga gave me a detonator. I motioned them back and we watched as a large piece of the wall was blown away.

Caturanga and Joe approached the hole and Joe went in first. The dust was settling and Joe brought out the pickaxe and the torch. I went in and began to go through the rubble. I found the snakestone as I cleared off the desk in the room. I must say for a second I did feel it's healing. I was certainly refreshing. Realizing what I had, I put it in the containment bucket.

"But the documents contained in the room were the bigger find. We had two boxes. Caturanga was sure that we had enough for the Swiss authorities.

"I did find later that Hedwig was imprisoned by the Swiss and then transferred to the French. His crimes were numerous. Last I knew the British were waiting to get him transferred. However, there was nothing in the documents directly related to the Countess." Helena concluded.

A/N Please leave a review.

Caturanga History Lesson

Gelignite had been discovered in 1875 by Alfred Nobel, the C4 of the time (see Wikipedia).


	27. Chapter 27 Alphas

"What really matters is what you do with what you have."  
>- H. G. Wells<p>

As with all of these stories, I do not own Warehouse 13 or Alphas.

**Chapter 27-Alphas**

**Warehouse 13**

The next day Claudia was back in her Mrs. Wiggins outfit. She was sitting at the console reading the report that Artie had sent. She was checking her other searches on her laptop while reading the report. Helena and Myka were in the office with her reading over the documents Artie had told them to get from the library. Myka looked up, "Here it is. There was a sideshow magic act in the 40's where the master of ceremonies would light the flaming hoop with a simple garden hose. The newspaper report says that it was Greek Fire. Here's a picture of it."

Helena slid over and Claudia pushed her chair over to look. Helena pointed to nozzle, "Looks like there is some addition to the front of the hose. It's some kind of box."

Claudia added, "But with the different types of materials that were suggested for Greek Fire, that box alone would not be big enough. It has to be some kind of an artifact."

Myka agreed, "Yeah, let's call Artie and let him know."

Claudia wheeled back and brought the Farnsworth over. Myka started, "Artie, it's Greek Fire and comes from an addition to the end of a hose. Looks like a box that goes on the end."

Pete was in the background, "Oh, like that thing Artie gave me in Jersey City? Only this one makes fire?"

Myka looked at Claudia. She shrugged, "Where we met Steve. Yeah, Pete. It should work about the same way."

Myka nodded, "So Artie, do you have anything on these guys yet?"

"We are being a bit crowded by some guys who say they're from Defense. But I don't know them," Pete relied. Artie just grumbled.

Claudia questioned, "Some guy named Clay?"

Steve answered from the back, "Yeah Claud, that's right. I did overhear him say something to his men about Red Flag. Does that mean anything to you?"

"I've run across it in my searches. Need to check on what is happening now. Artie, are you still there?" Claudia asked.

"Yes, what?" Artie was a little disgruntled that Pete and Steve kept chiming in.

"Be extremely careful. I have some things to check on and then I'll get back." She closed the Farnsworth.

"So, what do you think that is?" Helena asked.

"Well…" Claudia paused.

Myka chimed in, "Come spill. What do you know?" She looked at Claudia and her laptop, "You know don't you?"

"Maybe, but these are dangerous people." Claudia typed a couple lines on the laptop. She got a reply in a second. Motioning to Kato, who was sitting on the couch, she told the others, "Kato and I will be going somewhere. Excuse us." She headed out with Kato in trail.

Pete called back and got Myka, "What was that about?"

"I don't know. She has been busy ever since Miami," she answered.

Helena added, "I would assume the Caretaker just found a key that unlocks the mystery behind the recent events, Miami, the crash, the research facility and now this newest Ping."

"Yeah, she's probably on to something. And she must be worried, she generally doesn't close the Farnsworth on Artie." Myka observed. "You better be careful. She called them dangerous people." They hung up. Myka looked at Helena, "You're stories of Warehouse 12 have a lot to do with what she is doing. She seems to be acting more like your Caturanga, running off to take care of things herself."

"Well, I hope she remembers that he did call us into his little ventures. Like I just said, I was the one who got the Countess to tell all, and then opened the hidden room." Helena smiled back.

"Yeah, I think we better start our own little snooping to see what is going on," Myka smiled with a little sparkle in her eye.

"Oh well dear, couldn't pass that up. One for all and all for one, kind of thing. Where do we start?" Helena moved closer to Myka and the console.

"We go back to the reports from each event," Myka pointed.

"Isn't there a faster way? Can't we do a search or something on Red Flag? The Warehouse should be able to produce like a Ping on Red Flag, if there is one." Helena looked at Myka quizzically.

"Normally Artie and Claudia handle that," Myka related.

"Yes dear, but I know you read the manual. It's in there, isn't it?"

Myka nodded and started typing. She started getting FBI reports identifying Red Flag as a terrorist organization. They had been either held responsible or acknowledge the bombing of several research centers involved with neurological disorders and mutations. The reports did not identify a locus or organization. They inferred that it was a group of individuals and their connection was nebulous.

Helena pointed to something in one of the reports, "It says your Defense Department called them Alphas. What is an Alpha?"

"I don't know. Let's see," Myka started typing.

The Farnsworth went off. Myka picked it up. Pete was on, "We got it. You were right. It's a covering like a box. We are headed back."

"Did you find who was doing it?" Myka asked.

"No, we got there after the DoD guys left. They were putting someone in their van, but would not say anything about them."

"Is Artie there?" Myka asked.

"Yeah sure," Pete gave the Farnsworth to Artie.

"Artie, have you heard of the Alphas?"

"Ah, why are you asking?"

"Well, Pete mentioned Red Flag. Claudia said these are dangerous people and left. And our search showed Red Flag and Alphas are linked." Myka was waiting for an answer.

Artie shook his head, "Best not to go there."

"Artie?"

"Look we'll talk when I get back," Artie pronounced and closed the Farnsworth.

Claudia and Kato were already in the car heading toward the airport. Claudia got a call on her cell phone. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah Claud, we're fine. Pete and Artie just got off the phone with Myka. Something about Red Flag and Alphas." He waited but Claudia said nothing. "We found the artifact. It was a box that goes on the nozzle. But we did not get the guy who had it. He was taken away by the DoD guys." He paused again waiting for Claudia to say something. "These guys are not like the guys we used to work with. I mean ATF always worked with the Army folks when we were tracking weapons like flamethrowers. But these guys were different. They never said much."

Claudia got excited at that point, "Stay away from them. Don't ever, I mean ever let them know what you can do."

"What?" he paused and thought for a second. "Why, what is the problem?"

"Look I am going to check this out. Right now, I got Kato getting you additional protection. I'll let you know when I get more." Claudia hoped that would be enough.

"Okay, you be careful too. See ya," Steve hung up.

Kato looked in the mirror at Claudia, "Okay boss lady, what are we up against? What is the threat now?"

Claudia thought about it before she replied, "Something from awhile back. I've already called a friend. We are going to need some help determining who is a friend and not. Like you heard from Steve, those DoD guys were not like the one he normally dealt with. We will be heading up to Ontario to a little town outside of Ottawa. I'll drive when we get up there and no one, and I do mean no one, can know where we are. We'll leave our phones and anything else that can track us at the airport."

A/N Please leave a review. This will be the end of Part One. From here there will be two story lines, one that is AU bringing in the Alphas fully and another that is all Warehouse 12.


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